The Moment
by Butterfly Betty
Summary: One moment, I was a young, carefree girl and the next, I was writhing around on the ground, as the venom surged through my body. MA for language.
1. Chapter 1

Do you remember the moment that changed your life? You know the moment where suddenly, you knew that everything you thought you knew was nothing more than a load of shit? I remember that moment. I don't remember much about my human life but I do remember that moment.

I was barely seventeen years old when I experienced this moment. Like most young girls of my time, I was expected to be married sooner rather than later. At seventeen, I was already considered to be a late bloomer, practically an old maid. My father was putting pressure on me daily to choose from the many suitors who came knocking on my door, asking for my hand in marriage. I didn't want any of them. I wasn't in love with any of them. Hell, I had never even met a great deal of them. He didn't seem to think that should matter but it was important to me. I wanted to find my true love, my soul mate.

The only person I had who understood what I wanted was my brother. Though only a year older than me at eighteen, he understood that I wanted it all. The grander of falling passionately in love with someone. The splendor of the first time he held my hand or kissed my cheek. The moment when he knelt down in front of me and asked me to be his forever. In one moment, it all changed.

One moment, I was a young, carefree girl and the next, I was writhing around on the ground, as the venom surged through my body.

)&(

I stared out the window of the small, dinky hotel room I was standing in. The rain was falling, splattering against the window like tears from heaven. If there was a heaven anyway. I wasn't convinced there was one, only a hell.

Forks, Washington had to be one of the smallest towns I had ever seen and that's saying quite a lot seeing as I've seen nearly all of them at one point or another in my life. But never this one.

Now, here I was but why I was here was still a mystery to me. All I really knew was that I needed to be here. I was called or pulled to this little place.

This wasn't the first time I've felt this pull to a place. It's happened more than a hundred times in all the years since I've been on this earth. But I've never known why I am pulled to these places. This time certainly wasn't any different.

"What are you thinking about, Darlin?" drawled the southern man laying on the bed behind me.

"I don't know," I murmured as I looked back at him. His shaggy blond hair was flopping down into his eyes as he watched me with a lazy smile on his handsome face. "Just…thinking."

"Thinking usually gets you into trouble," he laughed. I rolled my eyes as I turned away from him. "Don't be like that, Sugar."

"No, you're right," I sighed. "I just can't figure out why we are supposed to be here. It's driving me insane."

"Hey, you'll figure it out," he said, coming over and wrapping his arms around me.

"Maybe," I muttered.

"We should hunt," he said, kissing the top of my head. "Your eyes are nearly black."

"So are yours," I commented.

"I know," he murmured.

"Let's go," I whispered.

)&(

"What are you in the mood for?" he asked. "Elk, deer, mountain lion."

"Elk is fine," I said.

He just nodded before he took off through the woods. I inhaled deeply and followed him, tracking the musky scent that filled the air. It didn't take us long to find nice group of Elk. They were quite large and very tasty. I had just finished my third when I was hit by a very powerful scent. I crouched down as I searched all around me.

"Do you smell that?" I asked, looking over at my companion. He was mirroring my position, nostrils flared.

"Yes," he snarled. "Vampires."

"Can you feel them?" I asked. He closed his eyes for a moment.

"They are…curious," he said, looking over at me. "They don't seem to be hostile…yet at least."

We stayed crouched down as we heard them approach. It sounded like three, maybe four of them. It took another moment before they came through the trees, equally as defensive as we were. The first, the one in front, was a large man, almost too big, with curly brown hair. The woman behind him, glaring at my friend and I, was extremely beautiful. She had a curvy, sexy body and long silk honey blond hair. Behind her stood another woman. In contrast to the other female, she was tiny, almost pixie like. Her dark hair stood out in carefully placed spikes.

"Who are you?" asked my friend, shifting his eyes from them to me.

I could see the silent question in his eyes but I didn't have an answer for him. They were just as much a mystery to me as they were to him. I could sense something among them but I wasn't sure what it was. I had never ran into this problem before.

"I think we should be asking you that," said the bear-like man. "Seeing as this is our area."

"We didn't realize this area had been claimed by anyone," said my companion. He sounded calm but I knew him better than that. I could hear the underlining edge laced in each word that came out of his mouth.

"We've been here for three years now," said the pixie girl. She stepped around the other two, ignoring the man's attempt to stop her. "I'm Alice. This is Emmett and Rosalie."

"Jasper," said my friend. He looked over and nodded at me. "That's Bella."

"Jasper and Bella," mused Alice. She had a glazed over look on her face, like she was trying to unravel a dark secret. She shook her head and smiled at the two of us. "It's lovely to meet you."

"You too," said Jasper, tersely.

"How long have you been here?" asked Emmett, looking between me and Jasper. He also seemed calm but his hands were clenched into tight fists and his body was rigid.

"A few days," shrugged Jasper, standing up. To most it would have seemed like an act of trust but I knew him better. He was still on his guard, waiting to see if they made the first move. "We didn't know there were others in the area."

"We blend in," smiled Alice, looking right at Jasper. "Or we try to at least."

"I see," said Jasper. Alice smiled as she looked back at her friends.

"Well, perhaps, we should take this meeting back to the house," suggested Alice.

"No," hissed Rosalie, shifting her body so that she was facing me. "We don't know them. We can't trust them."

"Calm down," said Emmett, placing his hand on Rosalie's shoulder. She shrugged it off but didn't say anything else. Emmett looked back over at Alice. "But she has a point. You didn't see them coming."

"That doesn't matter," said Alice, looking from Emmett to Rosalie. "Carlisle-"

"Carlisle?" I asked, speaking for the first time. Alice, Emmett, and Rosalie all looked over at me. "Who's Carlisle?"

"The leader of our coven," explained Alice, staring at me intensely. "Carlisle Cullen."

"WHERE IS HE AT?" I screamed, stepping toward Alice. Jasper threw his arms around me but I threw him off of me. "TELL ME!"

"Why do you care?" hissed Rosalie. Jasper snarled at her as he came toward me.

"Bella-"

"I'll find him myself," I hissed, interrupting Jasper.

I took off through the trees, following their scent by the way they came. I could barely hear the four of them racing after me. Just one perks of being so fast. The further I moved, the stronger the scent got. I had been running for several minutes when I came upon a large house. Much larger than I had ever seen. It was made nearly completely of glass.

I took one more step when I felt Jasper throw his arms around me, pulling me to the ground with a loud thud causing several trees to shake.

"Let me go," I snarled, throwing him several feet away as I jumped up.

"Bella, you don't know if it is him," growled Jasper as Emmett grabbed me. "DON'T!"

Emmett didn't listen to Jasper and tried to lock his arms around me. I gripped his arms in my hands and ripped them off. Emmett stumbled to the ground, looking at me with complete and utter shock on his face. I could feel my body shaking as Rosalie pulled Emmett to his feet. Alice grabbed his arms while Jasper stood back up and slowly made his way to me.

"Bella, Darlin, calm down," he said, firmly. I could feel him trying to send waves of calmness my way.

"Jas," I choked out through clenched teeth falling to my knees. "I have to know."

"I know, Darlin," he said, kneeling down in front of me and slowly placing his hands on my shoulders. "But you can't go in there until you calm down."

I closed my eyes and took several unneeded deep breathes. He was right. I would end up killing everyone if I didn't calm down. It took several minutes but I managed to calm down enough to at least stop shaking. It had been a long time since I lost control like that.

"What is going on out here?"

I snapped my eyes open as I turned and faced the person who had just asked that question. His voice may have seemed different but I would still know it anywhere, even after more than three hundred years. Shock sprang up on his face as he stumbled forward a couple of steps, ignoring the hand of the woman standing behind him as she tried to stop him. Jasper stepped back from me as the man came down the steps to the porch to where I was standing.

"Isabella?" asked Carlisle Cullen. "Is that really you?"

"Yes," I whispered, reaching up and stroking his cheek. "Is it really you, Carlisle?"

"Yes," he smiled, throwing his arms around me and spinning me around. I laughed as I clutched onto to him. "OH MY GOD, ISABELLA!"

"What the hell is going on here?" bellowed Emmett. Carlisle set me on my feet as he looked over at the man.

"This is my little sister, Isabella Cullen."

**Ok, so this is my first attempt at writing vampire fic. This will be short, probably not more than ten chapters or so, unless I get inspired. Give it a chance and let me know what you think by leaving me a review.**


	2. Chapter 2

Would you like to know what the definition of awkward is? The dictionary may say that it is embarrassing and requiring great tact or skill to resolve. That was not my definition of awkward. Mine would be sitting in the stark white living room with my brother, who I had thought had been dead for the last three centauries, while his vampire family glared at me. Now, that was awkward.

I suppose it would help if I hadn't just ripped the arms off the big one. Emmett was sitting on the couch across from me while Alice and Rosalie, who was glaring at me, reattached his arms. The woman who had tried to stop Carlisle from coming down to me, Esme as she was introduced, was sitting on the other side of Alice while Jasper stood next to the door, looking like he was going to explode. One more curse of being an empath.

"Are they going to keep staring at me?" I asked, looking over at my brother.

Carlisle had always been a handsome man but now he was beyond handsome. He had the same pale skin as the rest of us. His wavy hair was disheveled and messy, which the Carlisle I knew would never have been caught looking like that. He threw his head back and laughed, which seemed to confound the others.

"I think they are trying to find the family resemblance, dear sister," smirked Carlisle, looking from me to them. "You won't find any. Isabella is the spitting image of our departed mother."

"While Carlisle resembles our father," I said, looking over at them. All four of them looked from Carlisle to me and back to him.

"Why didn't you tell us you had a vampire sister, Carlisle?" asked Rosalie, shifting her gaze from him to me. Each word she spoke was laced with venom. Jasper snorted from his position next to the door, drawing the attention of the entire room. "Something funny?"

"Yes," he said, dryly. "Your hostility towards her is quite humorous to me."

"Jasper," I said, rolling my eyes at him. "She has every right to be hostile. I did rip the arms off the big one."

"His name is Emmett," hissed Rosalie. Jasper stifled his laughter and rolled his own eyes.

"Sorry," I said, nonchalantly.

In that moment, I was hit by a surge of…power. Jasper moved to me and crouched down as I sprang to my feet. The feeling was intoxicating yet suffocating at the same time. The feeling, the pull, I had been feeling towards this little town was so strong in this moment.

"Isabella, what is it?" asked Carlisle, standing up next to me. I wanted to answer him but I couldn't seem to find the words.

"Someone's coming," snarled Jasper.

"It's just Edward," said Carlisle, placing his hand on my shoulder. I snapped my head to him.

"Who?" I asked.

Before he could answer the front door was thrown open. I snapped my head back over and saw the most incredible man standing in the door way. He didn't look much other than seventeen but there was something unique about the vampire that stood in front of me. His skin was just as pale as mine yet he had dark purple circles under his black eyes. His jaw was strong but tense as he shifted his gaze around the room. His lips were ruby red as they tightened over his teeth. He had almost auburn colored hair that stuck up everywhere like he constantly ran his hands through it.

"Sister?" he asked, shifting his gaze from me to Carlisle.

"Yes," said Carlisle. I looked back at him. He smiled and pulled me back a step. "Isabella, this is Edward. Edward, this is my sister, Isabella, and her friend, Jasper."

"Jasper," I said, tersely.

"He's tense," muttered Jasper, closing his eyes for a moment. "Confused and…frustrated."

"I can't," said Edward, shifting his gaze back to me. "No, I can hear him fine but not her."

"What are you talking about?" I seethed, pulling away from Carlisle's grip.

"Isabella-"

"Bella, Carlisle," I said, firmly. "I haven't been Isabella in nearly a hundred years."

"Bella," smiled my brother. "Edward can hear thoughts."

"He's a mind reader?" I snorted, relaxing. Jasper straightened up but didn't relax. "Let me guess; he can't hear my thoughts."

"No, I can't," said Edward, harshly as he shut the door behind him.

"Don't feel bad, powers don't work on me," I said, plopping back down on the sofa.

"Care to explain?" asked Edward, crossing the room and standing next to Esme.

"What part of powers don't work on me don't you understand?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. His lips twitched like he was trying very hard not to smile while Esme, Emmett, Alice, and Rosalie just stared at me.

"Bella, is there a reason powers don't work on you?" asked Carlisle, sitting down next to me. Jasper sat down on the other side of me but he was still ridged. I placed my hand on his shoulder as I turned to my brother.

"I'm a shield," I explained. With those three little words, everyone but Jasper shifted their gazes onto me.

"A shield?" asked Emmett, doubtfully. "A real shield?"

"Yes, big guy," I smirked. "A real one."

"And nothing works on you?" asked Alice.

"Nope," I shrugged, looking back at Jasper. "Better?"

"No," he muttered. "They are bombarding me with everything from lust to hatred.":

"Do you want me to block them for you, Sweetie?" I asked, rubbing his arm.

"No," he sighed. "I'll deal with it."

"Ok, if you change your mind just let me know," I said.

"An empath?" asked Edward, looking from me to Jasper.

"Yes, Jasper is an empath and right now, all of you are overwhelming him," I frowned, looking around.

"Bella, I have so many questions," chuckled Carlisle, grabbing my hand in his.

"You and I both, dear brother," I smiled, gripping his hand in mine. "Which would you like me to answer first?"

"I guess the most obvious," he said. "How did you become a vampire?"

"I don't really remember much," I started.

_(flashback)_

_I was walking down the dirt road back to my father's house, trying to hurry. He wasn't going to be happy that I was late coming home from my job as a school teacher. Of course he wasn't happy about most things about me right now. I was nearly there when I heard a noise behind me. I stopped and looked back but there was nobody there. _

_Shrugging off the feeling of uneasiness, I turned and headed back down the road. I had barely taken a handful of steps when I heard the noise again. I once again froze and looked behind me. This time, however, I saw a man standing there. He was tall and pale but what stood out the most were his eyes. They were blood red._

"_Well, aren't you a pretty little one," said the man. He stepped toward me and I automatically stepped backwards. He smiled like he was enjoying a private joke. "What's your name, little one?"_

"_Isabella," I whispered. I could feel my body shaking as he stepped to his left. I quickly mirrored his actions, trying to keep the man in front of me. There was something off about this person._

"_Isabella," he murmured. "That's quite fitting for such a beautiful girl. Now, tell me where were you off to?"_

"_I'm on my way home," I said, softly. "I'm running very late so if you will excuse me."_

"_My apologies, little one," he laughed, stepping aside. _

_I wrapped my arms around myself as I quickly made my way past him. I desperately wanted to get as much room between me and him as I could. I had barely taken two steps when I felt him grab the tops of my arms. I tried to scream but his hand was already over my mouth. I wasn't sure what he was going to do to me but I knew it wasn't going to be pleasant._

"_You smell divine," he murmured, running his nose over the side of my neck._

"_Please don't hurt me," I begged but my plea was muffed by his hand. _

"_I bet you taste just as divine as you smell," he whispered._

_I barely had time to scream as I felt his teeth break through my skin. My knees buckled but he managed to keep me upright. I could feel the blood being sucked out of my body. Just when I was sure that I was going to die, he was yanked from my body. I fell to the ground, writhing as the venom surged through me. I vaguely heard the ripping as my so called savior tore him to pieces and burned him. _

_(End flashback)_

"The man who saved me lifted me off the ground and started running with me. I thought he was taking me to the town doctor but he just kept going. He left me all alone in a small shack in southern Asia. When I finally completed my change, I tried to find my way back to London but it took me awhile," I explained. "By the time I did, you and father were gone."

"Father died not long after you disappeared and I was changed a couple of years later," said Carlisle, dryly. "Where have you been for the last three hundred years?"

"Where haven't I been would be an easier question to answer," I laughed. Carlisle laughed with me as he slipped his arm around my shoulder.

"You were always quite the smart mouth," smirked Carlisle. "Used to frustrate father all the time."

"I want to know how she managed to rip my fucking arms off like I was nothing more than a piece of paper," said Emmett, bringing back the fact that Carlisle and I were no longer alone.

"I told you not to grab her," quipped Jasper. I smiled as I looked over at my friend. "Someone should have listened better."

"Well, maybe someone needs to learn to control their temper," jibed Rosalie. I rolled my eyes at her. "Don't roll your eyes at me."

"I believe I just did," I said, calmly. "Emmett, to answer your question, I'm very strong."

"That was kind of obvious but look at you," he said, gesturing to my body. Of course, this caused Rosalie to glare at him and stomp out of the room. Emmett sprang to his feet and chased after her. "Baby, I didn't mean it like that."

"Idiot," muttered Alice, shaking her head. "So you are strong?"

"Yes," I said, simply.

We fell into an awkward silence. I could heard Emmett groveling to Rosalie, trying his hardest to convince the ice queen that he didn't want me like that. It was a little funny but I didn't want to make things more tense by laughing at the woman. It wasn't until Esme cleared her throat that our attention was pulled back to the room we were in.

"So, Bella, where are you and Jasper staying?" she asked.

"We have a room at the hotel on the highway," I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"That shit hole," grumbled Carlisle. I snorted as I looked at him. "What?"

"You said shit," I snickered. "What would father think?"

"I'm sure he would have thought with the back of his hand," laughed Carlisle, shaking his head. "I insisted that you both stay here with us."

"I don't know, brother," I said, warily as I looked over at Jasper. He smiled as he simply nodded his head. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," murmured Jasper, shifting his gaze from me to Alice.

"Ok," I smiled as I looked back over at Carlisle. "I guess we would love to stay as long as the others don't object, of course."

"It's fine," said Alice, quickly.

"NO!" yelled Rosalie from upstairs.

"Sure," bellowed Emmett from the same place.

"We would love for you to stay," smiled Esme. I looked over at Edward.

"Why not," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Then it's settled," smiled Carlisle, standing up. He pulled me to my feet. "Come on, let's go get your stuff."

"Ok, ok," I laughed as Carlisle pulled me toward the front door. "It's nice to see you are still just as pushy as ever."

"Nice to see you are just as headstrong and stubborn," smirked Carlisle. I laughed as I looked over at Jasper.

"I'll be back," I said, giving him a look. He simply nodded his head.

Carlisle led me out to humongous garage that held a half dozen of the nicest cars I have ever seen, and I've seen a lot. He chuckled as he led me over to a shiny black Mercedes. He opened the passenger door for me so I climbed inside. He ran around to the drivers side and climbed in.

"I still can't believe you are here," he said, pulling out of the garage.

"That makes two of us," I smiled, shaking my head. "I thought you were dead."

"I thought the same about you," frowned Carlisle.

"Was he in pain in the end?" I asked, looking out the window.

"No," said Carlisle. "He was heartbroken after you disappeared. He was convinced that vampires had gotten you. I guess he was right. He started trying to hunt them and in the process let his health go. By the end, he was weak and tired. That's why I took up his work for him."

"You hunted vampires?" I asked, snorting.

"Yes, that's how I was changed," explained Carlisle, ignoring my laughter. "I had found a sewer system in London where a small coven was living. I gathered a group of townsmen and we went to get them. An old vampire came out and attacked me. He was crazed with thirst. He bit me but ran off as the others attacked him. They left me behind, not realizing that I had been bitten. I hid quietly until my change was complete and then fled the city."

"Oh," I said, softly. "Where did you go?"

"Everywhere," he sighed. "I mostly stayed out of rural areas. I didn't want to feed on humans. I spent a lot of time in France, Italy-"

"Italy?" I asked. "Did you stay with the brothers?"

"Yes, for nearly three decades," commented Carlisle. I shuddered. "Not a fan, I take it."

"No," I muttered, harshly. "Let's just say the brothers and I have an…understanding. I hate them and they know better than to come near me."

"Sounds like there is an interesting story behind that," snorted Carlisle, pulling up in front of the hotel. "I can't believe my sister was staying in this place."

"There are not a lot of options in this town and I refused to live in the woods like an animal," I quipped.

"Touché, sister," laughed Carlisle, climbing out of the car. "What are you doing in Forks in the first place?"

"I don't rightly know," I said, leading up him to mine and Jasper's room. "I get…feelings that lead me to different places. A few days ago, I had such a feeling. It brought me here."

"A feeling?" asked Carlisle as I unlocked the door. I looked back at him.

"I'm not crazy, brother," I laughed.

"You've always been crazy," he snickered. I rolled my eyes and lead him into the room. "Wow, this place is worse than I thought."

"Not all of us live in a mansion," I smirked, gathering the few possessions that Jasper and I had. "Jasper and I don't usually stay in any area for long."

"Oh," said Carlisle, sadly. I looked back at him and noticed the frown on his face. "You and Jasper are mates?"

"No," I shuddered. "I love Jasper but he and I are just friends. It's a long story that I can't tell because it is not solely mine but I found Jasper around the turn of the century. He and I have been traveling together ever since."

"I see," said Carlisle. "He's very protective of you."

"Yes, he is," I frowned. I gathered the last of my belongings and stuffed them into a bag. "That's everything."

"Well, let's get you home," said Carlisle, smiling at me.

"Home," I murmured.

**Thank you for all the reviews to the first chapter. Let me know what you think of this one by leaving me another one. **


	3. Chapter 3

Running, running, running. That's all I thought as I ran through the woods, pushing my body to move faster and faster. There was a feeling inside of me that pulled me, called to me, dragged me away from the house. I had never felt this pull this strongly before. I could feel the wind blowing past me as I jumped over a fallen log, letting the feeling of flying soar over me until I hit the ground with a soft thud. I ran until I found myself in a small meadow, surrounded by the most beautiful array of woldflowers I had ever seen. The clouds shifted and I felt the warm rays of the sun hitting me.

"Peaceful, isn't it?" asked Edward. I spun around and saw him sitting on the ground leaning against a tree. He had his knees bent up and his arms resting on them. There was a crooked smile on his face, a sexy smile.

"Yes," I murmured, looking around. "I didn't mean to bother you."

"You didn't," he said. "I come here to get away from all the thoughts that are thrown at me all the time."

"That must be frustrating," I said, softly as I looked around.

"Yes, it is," snorted Edward. "You don't seem very comfortable here."

"I'm not," I said, honestly. I slid down onto the ground and leaned back on my hands, letting the sun shine down on me. I could almost remember what it felt like to be warmed by the sun. "I've spent most of my…time alone or with Jasper. I don't take to big covens like this."

"Family," said Edward.

"Excuse me?" I asked, looking over at him.

"We are a family, not a coven," he said, smiling at me.

"I apologize," I snorted, laying back in the grass. "So tell me about yourself, Edward."

"What do you want to know?" he asked, moving over and laying in the sun with me. I looked over at him. His face and arms were sparkling like millions of little diamonds.

"Everything," I smiled. "I crave knowledge."

"Ok, well," he said, looking back at the sky. "I was born in 1901 to Elizabeth and Edward Masen. I was changed in 1918 by Carlisle after I became very ill with Spanish influenza. My parents had both passed and I was near death. Carlisle made the decision to spare my life by changing me. He stole me from the hospital and took me back to his small apartment."

"Interesting choice of words," I commented. Edward looked over at me with a cocked eyebrow. "You said he stole you. Do you blame him for turning you into a vampire?"

"No," he said, quickly as he looked away. "He was lonely and gave in to his desperation."

"I don't think I believe you," I sang, softly. Edward looked back over at me. "He didn't have to change you, Edward. He could have let you die along with your parents."

"Perhaps," muttered Edward, looking up as the clouds moved over the sun. "So much for the warmth."

"I didn't really feel it anyway," I mused, closing my eyes. "I barely remember what real sunlight felt like anyway."

"It feels like falling in love," whispered Edward. I snapped my eyes open and looked at him. He was staring at me, intensely.

"Have you ever fallen in love?" I asked, softly.

"Not yet," he murmured. "You?"

"No," I smiled. "Not yet, anyway."

For a moment, I found myself lost in Edward's butterscotch eyes. What color were his eyes before he was changed? I could feel him trying to penetrate my mind. I smiled as I sprang up to my feet and took off running through the trees.

"Catch me if you can," I yelled.

I heard him spring up to his feet and chase after me but I was faster. Laughing, I jumped to the top of the trees and began skipping from tree top to tree top until I found myself back at the house. I jumped from the tree and landed on the ground with a soft thud. Straightening back out, I turned and looked back just as Edward came rushing through the trees.

"Too slow," I smirked.

"You cheated," he scoffed, shaking his head. "You had a good two second headstart."

"Are you whining about two measly seconds, Edward?" I asked.

"I am not whining," he smiled. "I am merely stating a fact."

"Sounds like whining to me," I sang, heading into the house.

Carlisle was sitting in the living room, reading the paper with Esme tucked into his arms. I couldn't help but smile as I looked over at my brother. It was clear that he loved Esme very much. Part of me was insanely jealous that he had found his soul mate while I was still lonely but the other part, was thrilled for him.

"Where have you two been?" he asked, pulling down the paper and looking at me and Edward.

"Running," I said, plopping down on the sofa. Edward didn't say anything as he headed upstairs. "Where's Jasper?"

"Alice dragged him to the mall to buy him a new wardrobe," smiled Esme. "He told me to tell you that he blames you and that you owe him the usual."

"Big baby," I snorted, shaking my head.

"Do I want to know what the usual is?" asked Carlisle, warily.

"It's not what your sick mind is thinking, brother," I laughed. "It just means that I owe him the choice of where we hunt next time."

"Um, we haven't really spoken about hunting," said Carlisle, clearing his throat. "We don't, um,…"

"We don't either," I said. He cocked his eyebrow at me. "Jas and I don't feed off humans. We feed off animals. That's what we were doing when the others came across us."

"Oh," he said, clearly relieved. "Well, that's, um, good. Have you ever…"

"Have I ever what?" I asked. "Sucked a human dry? Tasted the sweet taste of blood sliding down my throat, clenching my thirst?"

"Yes, Isabella," said Carlisle, dryly. Clearly, he didn't like my joke.

"No, Carlisle, I haven't ever fed off a human," I sighed. "Jasper did for a while but he hasn't since he's been with me."

"Is that something that should concern us?" asked Esme, riasing her eyebrow at me.

"Absolutely not," I said, firmly. I heard the crunch of tires in the front of the house and stood up. "Jasper will not cause any problems for you."

Without saying another word, I turned and headed back outside, leaving Esme and Carlisle sitting there. Jasper and Alice came stumbling out of the garage with at least fifty shopping bags between them. They were smiling and laughing together. I guess shopping wasn't all that bad for him.

"Bella!" squealed Alice, locking her eyes on me. "I got you some new clothes!"

"I don't need new clothes," I said.

"Of course, you do," she snorted. "I mean, look at what you are wearing."

"What's wrong with my jeans and t-shirt?" I asked, looking myself over.

"You are wearing jeans and a t-shirt," she said, cocking her eyebrow. "That is the problem."

"Wow," I muttered as she headed into the house. I cocked an eyebrow at Jasper, who was wering a pair of khaki pants and a white dress shirt. "Nice look, Jas."

"Shut up, Bella," he mumbled, walking into house after Alice.

Later that night, I found myself feeling restless again. Odd feeling for a vampire but that was the only way to describe the feeling I had. Carlisle and Esme had retreated to their bedroom as had the Ice Queen and Emmett. That was a disturbing mental imagine I could go forever without having ever seen. Alice had Jasper sitting on front a massive computer system, browsing for even more clothes. I seriously think she has a problem.

I was pacing back and forth inside my 'bedroom'. I didn't have a bed, since I didn't really need one, but it was mine, I guess. Unable to take it anymore, I threw open my window and jumped out, rolling onto the balls of my feet as I hit the ground. I stayed crouched down as surveyed my surroundings.

"B?" asked Jasper.

"I'm fine, Jas," I murmured, softly. "Be back, ok?"

"Ok," he muttered.

I took off running through the trees once again today. I heard him reassure everyone that I would be ok as I jumped over the river. My hair was flying behind me with each step I took. I'm not sure how long I was running when I felt someone following me. I skid to a stop and snapped around. Edward stopped about three feet away from me.

"Why are you following me?" I asked, harshly.

"I just heard you leave," he said, shrugging his shoudlers. "I was wondering where you were going this late."

"I was just running," I muttered, turning and running off again.

"Where to?" he asked, chasing after me again.

"I don't know," I murmured.

I'm not sure how long Edward and I had been running when we finally stopped. I crouched down and surveyed the area. We were in the middle of a clearing but it wasn't a beautiful as the meadow was. I wasn't sure why I felt this pull to come here, but I did. I could feel something but I wasn't sure what if was power or just my imagination.

"What are you doing?" asked Edward.

"Can't you feel it?" I asked, closing my eyes. The feeling was so strong, almost intoxicating. "It's overwhelming."

"Feel what?" asked Edward. I looked back at him. He almost looked scared.

"I don't know what it is," I whispered so low that even as a vampire he would have a hard time hearing me. "But it's strong and delicious."

"An animal?" he asked, crouching down next to me.

"No," I murmured. "Not an animal. Something else. Something primal."

Edward didn't say anything else as I closed my eyes again and inhaled deeply, letting the feeling wash over me. I hadn't had a feeling this strong since I came upon Jasper all those many years ago. There was something coming, something new. Something that would change everything.

**Thank you for all the rev iews to the first two chapters. Please keep them coming. I love to hear what everyone thinks about the progression of this story.**


	4. Chapter 4

"I can't believe you are making me do this, Carlisle," I growled, crossing my arms in front of my chest. Carlisle smirked from his seat in the living room. "I'm mean, seriously? I'm like twenty times older than all those little humans."

"Sucks to be here, doesn't it?" smirked Rosalie. "Maybe you should leave."

"Nobody asked you, Blondie," I hissed. "Why don't you go work on getting that stick out of your ass?"

"Isabella, calm down," laughed Carlisle while Rosalie growled at me. I turned my glare back onto him.

"Bella, Carlisle," I growled. "For the last time, my name is Bella."

"Ok, Bella," sighed Carlisle, rolling his eyes. "If you are going to be staying here with us then you and Jasper are going to have to go to school, just like the other children."

"We are not children," said Edward, Emmett, Alice, and Rosalie. I snorted and rolled my eyes. Jasper was sitting there observing everything with a small frown on his face.

"It's all part of blending in," chuckled Carlisle.

"Fine, but I don't like it, brother," I huffed.

"I know," he smirked, standing up. "I'm off to the hospital. Have a nice day, Isabella."

I growled as he walked out of the house. Stupid pain in the ass big brother. How I had missed him. I shook my head as I looked over at Jasper, who looked physically ill at the thought of spending the day in a school house full of children. I moved over on the couch next to him and laid my head on his shoulder.

"You don't have to go," I said.

"If you are going, then I am going," he said, firmly.

"I can take care of myself," I whispered, sliding my arm around his back.

"It's not you I am worried about, it's the safety of those humans, Darlin," laughed Jasper. "Just wait until it's time for gym."

"Funny," I muttered, shaking my head.

"Oh, it's not too bad," scoffed Alice. "You just have to pretend to be human."

"That really doesn't help," I smiled.

Alice just laughed as she grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. I saw Rosalie scowl as she stood up but I was over it. I had apologized for ripping the arms off Emmett. It wasn't my fault she had a stick up her ass. Jasper followed Alice and I outside to the garage. Emmett and Rosalie climbed into his red, monster jeep, him smiling and her scowling, while Jasper and I climbed into the backseat of Edwards' silver Volvo.

A few minutes later, Edward pulled his car up into the parking lot of Forks High School. Rolling my eyes, I climbed out and adjusted the straps on the new messenger bag Alice has insisted that I just had to have. Something told me it was better to just humor her.

"Well, here we go, Jas," I sighed, looping my arm in with my friend. "Are you ready?"

"Uh, no, but let's do it anyway," grumbled Jasper.

"It'll be ok, Jasper," smiled Alice, placing her finger on her forehead. "I can see that everything here is going to work out."

"I would feel a hell of a lot more confident in the fortune teller's prediction if she could actually see me with you around," snorted Jasper as Edward and Alice strolled away.

"I heard that," said Alice as Edward burst out laughing, drawing the attention of several of the other students.

Jasper chuckled softly as we headed into the school after them. I hadn't been in a school in all my years as a vampire. I would have liked to had kept it that way. As we made our way through the front doors, I heard several deeps breaths, hearts begin racing and "Oh my god, I want to lick him". Interesting enough, not all the licker want-to-be's were female. Of course there were the comments about me as well. I heard several "Gotta get me a piece of that ass" and "I bet she likes it hard." Like any one of these sad little humans could give it to me hard.

"Remind me again why we are here," said Jasper, just loud enough for me to hear him.

"Cause I love my brother," I muttered. "But I hate these little humans."

"Me too," murmured Jasper, slipping his arm around my waist. "You seem distracted. You sure you are ok?"

"No, I'm not," I sighed, softly. "I just have this feeling…"

"Like in Mexico?" he asked, tensely.

"Worse," I muttered. I felt Jasper tense up even more. I slipped my arm around his waist. "It's ok, Jas. I'll figure it out."

Jasper just nodded his head as we walked down the hallway to the main office. He pulled the door open for me and I stepped inside. The office was tiny and, well, quite horrible. The walls were a light grey. The counter tops were bright orange and there were no windows. I imagined this was how it felt to be in prison.

As Jasper shut the door behind us, an older woman with bright red hair came out of one of the back offices. When she looked up at us, she gasped and I heard her heart skip a beat. I fought the urge to roll my eyes at the human but honestly, she's been around vampires for the last three years. You would think she was used us by now.

"C…c…can…I…h…h…help…you?" she stuttered.

"I certainly hope so," I said, putting on my best smile. For a moment, she stopped breathing completely. "Are you ok?"

"Yes," she gasped, sucking air into her lungs. "Um, what can I do for you?"

"We are new," I said.

"Oh, of course," she muttered, quickly. "Dr. Cullen called yesterday about you and your brother."

"Good," I said, cheerfully. I could hear Jasper chuckling to himself. This poor woman was scared to death.

"I have Jasper and Isabella-"

"Bella," I said, tightly. She gulped.

"Jasper and Bella Whitlock," she said, quickly as she rifled through her papers. Her hands were shaking as she pulled out our schedules and thrust them at us. "Here are your class schedules and a map of the school."

"Thank you," drawled Jasper, winking at her. She gasped and threw her hand up to her heart. I bit my lip to stop from laughing. "You have a good day now."

"You too," she squeaked.

Jasper and I headed back out into the hall, leaving her there staring at us. We were laughing as we compared our class schedules. We didn't have a single class together. I sighed as I looked up at him. He looked uncomfortable with it as well.

"It's going to be ok, Jas," I smiled, patting him on the arm.

"What if you need me?" he muttered, softly.

"First of all, we are in a school full of children. Who is going to try anything with me here?" I asked. "Secondly, it's not your job to fight for me, Jas. I can take care of myself."

"I know," murmured Jasper. "Ok, I'll see you at lunch. Be nice to the humans."

"I'll try," I snorted, walking away.

As I walked down the hallway, the children moved so that they were standing on the side of the hall. With each step I took, I heard them take a deep breath and let it out as I passed them. It was ridiculous. Like I would stoop so low as to actually hurt them.

I headed into my first class, English. Just as in the hallway, everyone turned and looked at me. Well, everyone except for Rosalie. She scowled and rolled her eyes. What a bitch. The teacher, Mr. Mason, shifted from his left foot to his right foot as I went over to him.

"Hi, I'm new," I said, brightly.

"Yes…of…course," he stammered. He took a deep breath as his cheeks turned pink. "Isabella, right?"

"Just Bella," I laughed. He chuckled nervously.

"Ok, Bella," he said, smiling. "You can take the seat next to Rosalie."

"Thank you," I said, winking at him.

As I made my way to the back of the classroom, I heard him let out a deep breath. In fact I heard several people let out their deep breathes. I slid into the seat next to Rosalie and placed my bag on the floor next to me.

"Why are you here?" asked Rosalie, speaking low enough that the humans couldn't hear her.

"To learn," I muttered, rolling my eyes.

"I don't mean here in school. I mean here in Forks, here with us," she said. I looked over at her.

"Why does it bother you?" I asked.

"Because they are my family," she said. All sense of the hatefulness that she had been throwing at me for the past week was gone.

"He's my family, too," I murmured, looking away.

"Who you haven't seen in three hundred years," she quipped.

"Not my choice," I muttered, closing my eyes.

"None of us seemed to have a choice in this, now did we?" she asked. I looked back over at her.

"No, we didn't but you are asking me to let go of the only person who knew me before I was turned into this," I explained. Rosalie frowned and looked down at her desk. "Could you let go of the one person you've missed in all those years? The one person who accepted you for who you were?"

"No," she said, shortly.

"I can't either," I whispered. "I'm sorry about doing that to Emmett. I lost control for a moment but you have to understand that Carlisle was not just my brother, he was my best friend."

"I suppose I can understand why you were so freaked out then," smiled Rosalie, looking back over at me. "Just don't touch him again."

Neither Rosalie nor I said anything else as Mr. Mason began his lecture on Pride and Prejudice. I honestly hadn't been this bored, ever. Once the bell finally rang, I stood up and gathered my bag. It was then that I smelt the revolting mixture of cheap cologne and what I thought was bacon. I turned around and found a shinny human with spiky blond hair and dull blue eyes standing behind me. He had a smirk on his face but I didn't need to be an empath to feel the fear flowing off of him.

"Hey," he said, nervously. "I'm Mike."

"And?" I asked. "Should I care that you are Mike?"

"No," he said, quickly. I heard Rosalie snort behind me. "I mean, yes. Um, I was wondering if you would like to eat lunch with me."

"No," I snorted. His face fell as Rosalie outright laughed this time. I could have sworn that I heard Emmett's roaring laughter, Alice's tinkling laughter, Jasper's southern guffaw, and Edward's velvety chuckle. "Was there anything else you needed or…"

"No, I guess I was done," muttered Mike, before taking off out of the classroom with everyone staring at him. I shook my head as I picked up my bag.

"You just might fit in here after all, Bella," laughed Rosalie.

The rest of the morning went much the same. I spent my next three classes with teachers who stammered every time they looked at me and boys who thought I needed them to help me to and from class. It was annoying but what was worse was that I was alone in all of those classes. By the time the bell rang ending fourth period, I was feeling quite grumpy. Not only that but I was still feeling uneasy about something. I just had no clue what in the hell it was.

I gathered my bag and shuffled out of the classroom. I headed down to the cafeteria so that I could pretend to get that shit they called food. When I walked in, the first thing I noticed was Jasper was leaning in toward Alice as she ran her fingers through his hair. The next thing hit me in the gut and nearly sent me to the floor. I stumbled back a couple steps as I let out a soft growl. Someone or something was here.

"Bella, Darlin?" asked Jasper, rushing over to me at human speed. He gripped the tops of my arms in his hands and turned me to face him. "Talk to me, Sugar?"

"Something…" I snarled, darting my eyes around. "Disgusting."

"What's going on here?" hissed Edward as he, Alice, Rosalie, and Emmett joined us. "Oh, for fuck sake."

"What is it?" growled Rosalie.

"The wolves," muttered Edward.

**Thank you for all the reviews. I just want to clarify that the wolves are not the big thing Bella feels coming. Let me know what you thought about this chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

"Why the fuck are the wolves here?" growled Emmett, looking back at Edward.

"Why do you think," muttered Edward, looking at me and Jasper.

"Me and Jasper?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow at him. He nodded his head quickly. "Ok, so what's the deal with them and why are you all acting like this is the end of the goddamn world?"

"I'll have to explain it later because they are standing outside right now and are demanding that we come out," grumbled Edward.

"So let's go," I snorted, turning and heading toward the door.

I felt someone reach out and grab my arm. As soon as their hand was on me, I felt a volt of energy shoot through me. I looked back and saw that it was Edward, who was staring at his hand that was still on my arm. I pulled my arm out of his hand and stepped away from him, placing my own hand on the spot where he had touched me. What the hell was that?

"Don't grab me again," I muttered. Edward, who was staring at me with shocked eyes, quickly nodded his head.

"B?" asked Jasper, placing his hand on my shoulder.

"Let's go," I said, shrugging Jasper's hand off of me.

I looked back at Edward before I turned and headed out of the cafeteria, leaving all the little humans blissfully unaware of the dangers that were around them. I heard the others shuffled out of the large room behind me, quietly but tensely. The six of us stepped out of the front doors of the high school to find four russet skinned people standing in front of us.

The three men and one very angry looking woman all had the same dark tanned skin and black hair that had been cut into a short shaggy do that honestly, looked like crap. The man in front was easily five years older than the other two. He had an air of confidence about him and I knew he was their leader. The other two men, if you could call them that, looked like they were barely old enough to be in high school, even if they both were quite tall. The woman was just as tall as the men but the scowl on her face and clear disgust that she had written all over her, made her seems smaller than them.

As soon as the doors closed behind us, all three men gave me the once over and the woman glared. There was something odd about these people in front of me, something different but I couldn't put my finger on it. The only thing I knew for certain was that they smelled and they smelled bad.

"We haven't broken the treaty," said Edward, turning to the man in front.

"Yet, here are two new leeches standing next to you," smirked the man. The two men behind him chuckled while the woman was still glaring at me. I stared her down until she turned away, huffing.

"Clearly, they had been changed many years ago," said Edward, heatedly. He snapped his head to one of the men in the back. "I wouldn't think that again, dog."

"Or what?" he smirked, visibly gawking at me.

"Or I'll rip your fucking head off," growled Edward, stepping in front of me.

"I'm not scared of you, leech," sneered the man.

Edward lunged at him but I grabbed his arm and threw him several feet back. He hit the ground with a loud thud and the cement cracked under him. I heard everyone gasp and I looked back at the men and women standing in front of us. They were staring at me with their mouths open.

"I don't know what you are thinking, asshole," I said, harshly, "but I wouldn't think it again." I turned to the man in front, who was watching me with wide eye Almost like he had never seen a vampire as strong as I am, which he probably hasn't. "My friend and I are not newborns and we are not going anywhere. We will not violate any treaty that you have set up with Cullen's."

"How do we know we can trust you?" hissed the man in back. He tone was rude and condescending, which was starting to really piss me off and that was not a good thing.

"Jacob," muttered the man in front at the same time that Jasper hissed, "B."

"What?" I growled, turning to Jasper.

"They aren't the same as in Africa," said Jasper, giving me a look.

"I know," I muttered, turning back to the men in front of me. The man called Jacob was glaring at the man in front, who seemed to be ignoring everyone around him. "You need to keep your puppy in check there before he comes across someone who knocks him on his ass."

"I'd like to see someone try," scoffed Jacob.

"Keep mouthing off to me, boy, and I'll do it," I snarled.

"I'm not scared of you, leech," laughed Jacob.

"You should be," I said, gruffly.

"Get your dogs and leave, Sam," snapped Emmett, grabbing my shoulder and pulling me back a few steps. I looked back at him and he quickly moved his hand off of me. "We got your message, loud and clear."

"Tell that bitch back there to glare at someone else, before I gauge her fucking eyes out," seethed Rosalie. The woman scoffed but looked away from Rosalie. I resisted the urge to turn and high five Rosalie or at least smile at her.

"Fine, we'll leave for now but know that we are always watching," muttered Sam.

He turned and motioned for his lapdogs to follow him. I stood there with my arms folded across my chest as they ran off toward the woods. Just before they disappeared in the trees, Jacob turned and looked back at us. He laughed and took off. I already hated that little pooch. He was like an annoying little Chihuahua, yapping in your ear all the time.

"Bella," said Jasper, placing his hand on my shoulder.

"I'm fine, Jas," I muttered, looking back at him. "But they are bad news."

"Is that what you were feeling for the last couple days?" he asked.

"What were you feeling?" asked Emmett.

"No, it wasn't," I sighed, ignoring Emmett's question. "What ever it is I am feeling is still out there and getting stronger."

"You sure you are ok?" asked Jasper.

"What the fuck are you feeling?" growled Emmett.

"I'm fine, Jasper," I said, quietly. I looked back over at Emmett. "I don't know what it is I am feeling yet. As soon as I figure it out, I'll let you know."

I pulled out from under Jasper's hand and past Alice, Rosalie, and Edward and headed back into the school. I headed down the hallway to my fifth period biology class, ignoring everyone as they stared at me. The warning bell had just rung but none of them seemed to be in a hurry to get into class. I walked into my classroom and up to the teacher, who introduced himself to me as Mr. Banner. He gestured for me to take a seat at the table in the back.

I turned and made my way back there as the classroom started to fill with the other students. It wasn't until a trashy looking bleach blond and a short curly haired girl came in that I paid any attention to what they were saying.

"…that she's the sister to Jasper," whispered the curly haired girl. "But I don't see it. I mean they look like nothing alike."

"I heard that she turned Mike down," muttered the blond, glancing over at me and saw that I was watching them. "Fuck, I think she heard us."

"Shit," whispered the curly haired girl, peeking back at me with wide eyes.

They both stared at me for another moment before they finally looked away. They were brave little humans, I'll give them that. The door to the room opened again and I looked over to see Edward come in. In that moment, I heard every heartbeat that belonged to the girls and a couple of the guys, quicken. It was little funny the effect this vampire had on the humans. Edward let the door shut behind him and headed back to where I was sitting and sat down next to me.

"Are you ok?" I asked, just loud enough for him to hear me.

"Yes," he muttered, looking over at me. "Besides my pride being hurt."

"I'm sure your pride will be just fine," I said, smiling at him. Edward smiled back at me and shook his head.

"I don't know about that," chuckled Edward. "You only used one hand to throw me."

"I told you I was strong," I smirked, cocking my head to the side. "You didn't believe me."

"No, I suppose I didn't, even if I did see what you did to Emmett," grinned Edward. "Although from the way he tells it, he gave you quite the fight."

"Whatever," I snorted.

"What did Jasper mean about Africa?" asked Edward, looking over at me.

"Long story," I muttered, darkly.

"I love long stories," whispered Edward as Mr. Banner started his lesson.

"This is not the time nor the place for me to tell it," I murmured, looking over at him.

Edward nodded his head and turned his attention to Mr. Banner. I did the same but I didn't pay him any attention. By the time the bell rang, I found myself tapping my nails on the desk. I was feeling incredibly restless. Edward reached over and covered my hand with his and I looked up at him as I felt the shock run through me again.

"What the hell are you doing to me?" I asked.

"I don't know," he murmured, "but you are going to leave dent marks in the table if you don't stop."

Edward moved his hand away from mine as he stood up and walked out of the classroom. I gathered my bag up and followed him out, past all the humans. I made my way down to the gym and was instructed to have a seat by Coach Clapp. As everyone came out of the dressing rooms, I noticed Edward and Emmett both come out, wearing gym clothes. Coach Clapp got them playing volleyball before he went into his office. He came back out a few minutes later and tossed me a pair of grungy shorts and a t-shirt, instructing me to be ready to participate tomorrow. I growled under my breath at him as he walked away and heard Emmett and Edward both laugh.

As soon as Coach Clapp dismissed us, I was out of there. I headed straight out of the gym and started out toward the parking lot. I was the first one to make it to the car and found myself pacing back and forth, trying my hardest to maintain my composure but I was quickly losing that battle. The pull inside of me was driving me to the brink of insanity.

"Bella?"

I turned around and saw Jasper and Alice making their way down to me, quicker than the average human would be moving. Jasper skid to a stop in front of me and put his hands on my shoulders, trying to break through my shield to calm me down but it wasn't working. It never worked but he kept trying.

"I need to run," I muttered, clenching and unclenching my fists over and over. Jasper nodded and looked back at Alice.

"We'll meet you back at the house," he said, handing her both of our bags.

Alice nodded her head, quickly. Jasper and I left her standing there and headed to the woods. As soon as we were hidden from human eyes, we took off. My hair flew behind me as I ran harder and faster, pushing my legs to glide over the ground faster and faster. It wasn't until we found us standing in the middle of the clearing that I realized I had been pulled back to this place. But why was I pulled here?

"You're scaring me," said Jasper. I turned and looked back at him but didn't respond. "Darlin, I've been with you for more than a century and I have never seen you so restless. Not even in Mexico."

"I know," I muttered, looking away. "Something is pulling me here, I don't know what it is, though."

"The wolves?" asked Jasper.

"No, those puppies have nothing to do with this," I sighed. "Something bigger." I turned and looked at Jasper. "I think it's them."

"Shit," muttered Jasper, raking his hands over his face. "Did they learn nothing in Mexico?"

"No," I snorted, crouching down and running my fingers through the grass. Jasper squatted down next to me. I looked over at him. "You and Alice?"

"What about me and Alice?" he muttered, looking away.

"You're mates," I said, simply as I sat on the grass. Jasper sat down next to me and pulled his knees up.

"I don't know about that," he said, looking back over at me and smiling. "But I like her."

"Do you love her?" I asked.

"Love?" he asked, shaking his head. "What is love? I don't know if I love her or not. I feel drawn to her, protective of her. She makes me smile and laugh."

"That's good," I murmured, looking away.

The stabs of jealousy were shooting through me. Not because I felt that way with Jasper but because I wanted the same thing. I wanted my soul mate, my lover to hold me in his arms. I wanted what Carlisle and Esme had. Fuck, I wanted the amazing sex that Emmett and Rosalie had. I wanted to stop feeling lonely all the time.

"Are you happy here?" asked Jasper. I looked back at him and smiled.

"As happy as I get," I said. "I love having my brother back, Jas."

"But…" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"But I don't know how to do normal shit," I admitted. "You and I don't stay anywhere for more than a week and we've been here almost two already."

"Are you wanting to leave?" he asked, frowning.

"No, Jas," I said, quickly.

Jasper immediately relaxed and looked around. I would never take him away from Alice. He may not be ready to admit it to himself but he was falling in love with that little pixie. Jasper and I sat in the clearing for a while longer before we headed back to the house. Emmett, Rosalie, Edward, and Alice were all in the living room when we came in. The moment we walked into the house, Alice was at Jasper's side.

"Where were you?" asked Edward, glaring at me.

"Excuse me?" I asked, shortly.

"Where were you?" asked Edward, again. "You just took off."

"First of all, I don't answer to you," I snapped. "Second of all, I needed to run."

"Edward, calm down," sighed Alice. "I told you they were fine."

"You can't see them, Alice," growled Edward, turning on his sister.

"What is your problem?" I snarled. Emmett and Rosalie were watching with smiles planted on their faces, like this was the most entertainment they've had in years.

"My problem?" he yelled. "You! You are my problem."

"I am not your problem," I snapped.

"Yes, you are," sneered Edward, clenching his fists. "You just take off with your lover boy there, leaving everyone hanging. You have no clue what you are doing to anyone, do you?"

"Lover boy?" I hissed. "Jasper is not my lover, you fucking asshole. He's my best friend, the only person I've had since I was turned."

"Whatever," muttered Edward as Carlisle and Esme came into the house.

"What the hell is going on here?" asked Carlisle, looking between us all.

"You pride and joy over there seems to think he has the right to tell me what to do," I hissed.

"We had a little visit from the wolves today," said Edward, glaring at me. "They aren't too happy about them staying with us and made it clear that they were going to be watching us. So what does she do? She and her lover here, take off after school and disappear."

"I am not her lover," shuddered Jasper. Edward scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I'm not. Bella and I have never been more than friends."

"The two of you have been together for more than a hundred years," said Emmett, standing up. "You can't be telling me that you've never hit that."

"Emmett," hissed Carlisle as Rosalie stood up and smacked him on the back of the head.

"I'm just saying," muttered Emmett.

"Bella and I have never been more than friends," said Jasper, calmly.

"Friends," snorted Edward.

"Why are you jealous?" asked Jasper, folding his arms in front of him.

"I'm not," muttered Edward.

"I can feel it rolling off of you," smirked Jasper.

"Whatever," grumbled Edward.

"Look, I owe Bella a lot," said Jasper.

"Jas, we've been through this, you don't owe me anything," I said, placing my hand on his shoulder causing Edward to growl. "Shut the fuck up, Edward."

"Jasper, why do you think you owe Bella anything?" asked Carlisle. Jasper turned and looked at him.

"Because she spared my life."

**Thank you for all the reviews. So what do you think? Complete rubbish?**


	6. Chapter 6

"Jas," I muttered, shaking my head. "We've been through this numerous times over the years. You were an innocent."

"I think I speak for all of us when I ask this," said Carlisle. "How exactly did you and Jasper meet, Bella?"

"You might as well make yourselves comfortable," I sighed. "This is going to be a long story."

Carlisle, Esme, and Alice moved over to the couches and settled next to Emmett and Rosalie while Edward sat on the stairs, glaring at me and Jasper. I turned to my friend, who had moved over and was staring out the window. This wasn't a time in Jasper's life that he enjoyed talking about, to anyone including me. I moved over and placed my hand on his shoulder, ignoring the growl that came from Edward.

"Do you want me to tell them your part, Sweetie?" I asked, quietly.

"No, Darlin," murmured Jasper, looking down at me. "Just stay close, ok?"

"Ok," I whispered, nodding my head.

"I was born and raised in south Texas in the late eighteen hundreds," started Jasper. "As a young man, I was eager to join the military. Like most young men of my time were, I suppose. I quickly moved through the ranks and found myself as a major in the confederate army. " Jasper turned and looked at everyone. "What do you know about newborn armies?"

"Just that they were popular in the south," said Carlisle, leaning back on the couch. Jasper nodded his head.

"Yes, they were," muttered Jasper. "I was barely eighteen when I found myself in such an army. I had just escorted a group of women and children out of Galveston when I came across three woman. At first I thought they were in need of assistance so I stopped. They were very beautiful and even though my instinct was to leave them, I went up to them. I offered them my assistance but they just laughed at me and commented on how cute I was. One of the women, Maria, stepped up to me and ran her hand down my arm. Even through my uniform, I could feel how cold her hand was. She licked her lips as she leaned up to me and whispered, 'This will only hurt for a moment.' I knew she was lying but I was entranced by her, I guess. She tilted my head to the side and bit me," said Jasper as he started pacing back and forth.

"As you all know, the pain was horrible," continued Jasper. "I vaguely remember her as she lifted my writhing body off the ground and carried me through the darkness. When I woke up a few days later, I found myself laying on the pile of hay in a broken down barn. All I could think of was the burn in my throat. The door to the barn opened and Maria came in, dragging a young Mexican girl behind her. The girl looked terrified and, looking back, I know I could feel her fear. Maria tossed the girl at my feet and told me to feed on her. The girl looked up at me, begging me not to hurt her, but the burn was too much for me to take and I lifted her to my mouth and drained her," murmured Jasper, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

"This was our routine for days, weeks, months. I'm not really sure how long Maria kept dragging humans into me. One day, she came in and told me just to take a little of the human's blood but not to drain him. She said she wanted to test my strength. I bit down into the man's neck, ignoring his pleas to spare his life, and took just a couple draws before I pushed him to the ground. He started crying out about the pain, the fire that was consuming him. Guilt washed over me as I watched him begin his change. I was disgusted with myself. Over the next couple of years, Maria had me turn dozens of people. She explained to me that we were building our army and that soon we would have enough to rule our land. Each time the guilt washed over me and I found myself hating her and myself more and more but I couldn't resist her. She was my sire and she made it clear that I owed her," grumbled Jasper, looking over at me.

"I stumbled upon them in late 1898," I said, continuing the story. "I had been traveling through Mexico for a few months and I found myself being pulled to Mexico City. I had been pulled to places before but I had never felt the pull that strong, at least until we came here. I had been in the city for a day or so when I came across this old farm house. I had run across newborn armies several times during my travels but none as big as the one I found there. Maria came storming out of her house with nearly twenty newborns behind her. She started questioning me on who sent me and why I was there. She was crazy. Without giving me a chance to respond to any of her questions, she ordered her army to destroy me," I said, darkly. I shook my head as I thought back to that moment. "I didn't want to destroyed them but I had no choice," I admitted, clearing my throat.

"You destroyed them?" snorted Emmett. I looked over at him.

"Yes," I said.

"You destroyed twenty newborns on your own?" asked Edward, doubtfully.

"Yes," I said, tersely.

"That's impossible," muttered Edward.

"She did," said Jasper. I looked over at him. "I was in the barn training another ten newborns when I heard Maria start screaming at her. By the time the other newborns and I made it out of the barn and around the house where Bella was, she was already fighting them. I stood there watching as she single-handedly ripped them apart and piled them high. Maria stood there shocked that she had managed to defeat the majority of her army. She looked over at me and the remaining newborns and ordered us to take her out. All of them but me and two others, Peter and Charlotte, ran at Bella. She quickly dismembered them and added them to her pile. Maria looked at me, Peter, and Charlotte and told us to fight but we refused to."

"Why?" asked Alice, leaning forward.

"Because Bella was our salvation," explained Jasper, smiling at the pixie.

"I'm nobody's salvation," I muttered.

"When Maria realized that we weren't going to fight she tried to attack us," continued Jasper, ignoring my last comment. "But Bella stopped her."

"I told her that they made their choice and I wasn't going to allow her to force them to do her biding," I said. "She called me a self righteous bitch and hit me. I don't take very well to being hit or called a bitch and I snapped her fucking head off, tossed it into the pile of body parts, and lit them up."

"You seriously took on almost thirty newborns single-handedly?" asked Esme.

"Yes," I said, shortly as I looked out the window. "I'm not proud of myself for losing control and killing them all."

"You were defending yourself," murmured Jasper. He has said that to me so many times. Too many times.

"I know," I whispered. I cleared my throat and spoke a little louder. "I let Peter, Charlotte, and Jasper live because they had made the decision to not to fight me. I saw no point in killing them. Peter and Charlotte took off without another word but Jasper just stood there, looking lost."

"I wasn't sure what I was suppose to do," said Jasper, slipping his arm around my back. I leaned my head over on his shoulder. "Bella offered to let me travel with her but made it clear that if I did, I had to stay away from human blood. I was to hunt animals. It was…difficult, especially at first, but I haven't tasted a drop of human blood since that day."

"We've done amazing, Jas," I smiled, looking up at him. "You've come along way from being that boy who was nearly rabid."

"Thanks to you," murmured Jasper, kissing the top of my head.

"Wow," sighed Alice, drawing our attention back to the others. "So Jas, you really do owe her your life."

"Yes," smiled Jasper.

"No, he doesn't," I said, disagreeing with him. "His so called debt to me was paid in full years ago, not that he owed me anything in the first place."

"That's not true and you know it," frowned Jasper.

"How did you destroy an army of newborns all on your own?" asked Emmett.

"I don't really know how," I said. "It was like the more that came at me, the stronger I became. Almost like this boost of energy that coursed through me, giving me the ability to fight them off."

"But what makes you so strong?" asked Rosalie.

"I don't know," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "I never lost my newborn strength so I don't know if it's my shield or something different."

"So let me see if I understand this," said Carlisle, standing up. "Bella, you get these feelings, or whatever, that pull to these places. One of these feelings brought you to Mexico City where you defeated one of the biggest newborn armies ever known about and saved Jasper?"

"Yes," I said, softly.

"You don't know what this feeling is?" he asked.

"No," I murmured, looking back outside.

"What does it feel like?" he asked, moving over to me. Carlisle placed his hand on my shoulder. "Explain it to me, sister."

"It's intense," I said, softly. "It builds slowly until I can't ignore it anymore. I can't think, breathe, or anything. It consumes all of me."

"How do you know where to go?" asked Edward.

I looked back as he stood up off the stairs and moved towards me and Carlisle. It was then that I realized that Alice had moved over and had her arms wrapped around Jasper. Esme was standing behind Carlisle with Emmett and Rosalie. It was both oddly comforting and uncomfortable having them all so close to me.

"I don't know," I muttered, stepping away from everyone. "The feeling gets more intense the closer I get to my destination."

"When you get there, what happens?" asked Edward.

"I don't think I want to talk about this anymore," I whispered, turning away.

"What happens when you get there?" he asked, again.

"Tell me about the wolves," I said. I felt the volt of energy as Edward put his hand on my shoulder.

"Bella," whispered Edward, turning me so that I was facing him.

I looked up at him. He was gazing down on me with such intensity that I felt the need to draw in an unneeded deep breath. I stumbled back several steps, letting his hand fall of my shoulder. I could feel all of them watching me but I was focused on Edward. I gripped the doorknob in my hand and opened the door.

"I…"

I trailed off as I dropped my hand off the doorknob and took of through the open door. I heard Carlisle and Jasper running after me but I was faster than both of them and it didn't take me long to lose them in the trees. As I approached the river, I leapt across it, landing on the other side with a soft thud.

I wasn't even sure where I was going until I found myself back in the meadow. Even through it was already dark, it was still completely beautiful. I laid down in the middle of the meadow and looked up at the stars. When I was little, Carlisle and I used to lay in the field behind our house and watch the stars. We would take turns pointing out different shapes.

"I thought you might come here," said Edward. I didn't look at him as he crossed the meadow and laid down next to me.

"Tell me about the wolves," I murmured.

"We lived around here back in the late thirties," started Edward. "One night while we were out hunting, we came across the Quileutes. They knew of our kind and were not very happy with us hunting on their lands. That's when we found out they were werewolves-"

"They are not werewolves," I said, interrupting him.

"Excuse me?" he asked, sitting up and looking down at me. "I think I would know. I was the one there."

"Well, I've encountered werewolves before and trust me they are not werewolves," I said, sitting up.

"Africa?" he asked. I nodded my head. "Huh, ok. Well, they phase into giant wolves."

"Oh," I said. "So they are shape shifters. Why are you all scared of them?"

"We are not scared of them," scoffed Edward. "When we first met them, their Alpha or leader, Ephraim Black and Carlisle made a deal. They would keep our secret if we stayed off their lands and didn't bite any humans."

"So they thought that one of you had changed me and Jasper," I murmured. "Now their attitude makes sense."

"Yes, they are stupid animals but we have to make the effort to keep the peace with them," grumbled Edward.

"Suppose I get that," I said, quietly.

"You really destroyed an entire army of newborns by yourself?" asked Edward.

"Yes," I muttered, darkly. "I wish I hadn't of had to. They didn't ask for this life anymore than you or I did. They had been trained to be killers and that was all they knew."

"Trained by Jasper," quipped Edward. I turned and glared at him. "Don't look at me like that. He trained them to be killers."

"You have no idea just how hard it is out there, Edward," I retorted. "Now, I'm not saying that Jasper was right but he was scared and she was filling his head with lies of love and honor. She knew how to manipulate him into doing what she said. She was quite gifted that way. Not all of us have lived in the little bubble that you have."

"You don't seem to have the same problem," jibed Edward.

"True I haven't," I admitted, standing up and walking away. "I only spent two centuries alone."

"I'm sorry," said Edward, grabbing my arm. Again I felt the volt run through me. I turned and looked at my arm.

"What is that?" I whispered. Edward dropped his hand as I looked up at him.

"I don't know," he murmured. "Don't leave."

"Why not?" I asked, turning and facing him. Edward frowned but didn't say anything. "Why were you jealous, Edward?"

"I wasn't," muttered Edward, turning from me.

"Yes, you were," I smirked.

"No, I wasn't," snapped Edward, spinning on me. He hesitated for a moment. "Alice likes him…and I don't want her to get hurt."

"Are you and Alice," I hissed, "an item?"

"No," he growled. "She's my sister. My best friend."

"Sure she is," I scoffed. "You two have been the only unmated people in the house with the lovebirds and you never got together. Sell your bullshit elsewhere."

"She and I have never been more than siblings," snapped Edward, grabbing the top of my arms.

I slammed my hand into the middle of his chest, sending him flying backwards into a large tree. Edward slid to the ground as the tree cracked and fell to the ground. He growled as he sprang up from the ground and leapt at me. He grabbed my arms again and pushed me back and pinned me to a tree. His normally butterscotch eyes were nearly pitch black. Without warning, he crushed his lips down onto mine.

**Thank you for all the reviews. Please let me know what you think.**


	7. Chapter 7

"Get the fuck off of me," I screeched, throwing Edward half way across the meadow. When he hit the ground, he skidded back several feet. "Who the fuck do you think you are?"

I turned and hightailed it out of there, leaving him yelling for me to come back. I wasn't sure what in the hell just happened. One minute I was standing there and the next, Edward had me pinned to a tree and his lips were on mine. He beautiful, tasty, sexy lips that felt amazing against mine.

"I'm so fucking screwed," I muttered to myself.

I wasn't even sure where I was going as I continued to run. All I really knew was that I had to get out of there. I wasn't sure what I was feeling for Edward. There was something there but I didn't understand it and, quite frankly, it scared the shit out of me. Before I knew it, I was back at the house. I hadn't even realized that I was running back there. I stormed into the house, slamming the front door behind me. I mentally winced when I heard the wood splinter. Fuck, that was going to cost me.

"B?" asked Jasper, rushing down the stairs. He skidded to a stop in front of me as the front door opened again.

"Bella, let me explain," said Edward, rushing into the house. I stepped away from him and glared.

"I don't think there is anything to explain," I snarled. "Stay the fuck away from me."

"Bella-"

I ignored Edward as I ran up the stairs to my bedroom and shut the door behind me. Only this time I was careful not to slam the door. Through the floor I could hear Jasper grilling Edward on what happened but Edward was refusing to answer him. Part of me was glad and part of me was upset about that. Was he ashamed of kissing me? Was I just a game to him? It didn't make any sense to me. I went over and pulled my window open and climbed out onto the roof. I laid back and closed my eyes.

"If I didn't know better, I would swear you were sleeping," said Carlisle. I snorted and looked over at him. He laid back next to me and looked at the clouds. "Where did you go?"

"Running," I muttered.

"You do that a lot," commented Carlisle.

"It helps with the restlessness," I whispered.

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Carlisle.

"About what?" I asked.

"About whatever Edward did to piss you off so much that you broke the front door?" asked Carlisle.

"Sorry, I'll fix it," I muttered.

"I don't care about the damn door," huffed Carlisle. I looked over at him. He was really upset.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I asked, sitting up. Carlisle mirrored my actions but didn't say anything. "Carlisle?"

"Let's go hunt," he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me off the roof. Good thing my reflexes were good or I would have face planted onto the ground, vampire or not.

"Fuck, Carlisle," I laughed, rolling onto the balls of my feet. "I should kick your ass for that."

"Oh, stop being such a baby," snorted Carlisle. "I knew you would be ok."

"Whatever," I smiled. "Let's hunt."

Carlisle let go of my hand and took off running into the woods. I waited about ten seconds and chased after him. I figured I might as well let him feel like he was faster than me. It didn't take me long to catch up, and run past him. We ran for awhile until we found a nice heard of deer about twenty miles from the house. I watched as Carlisle took a large one down. He was very graceful about it. I took a couple of smaller ones down.

Once we got done hunting, each of us feeding off three deer, we settled down on a couple of boulders next to the river. If I tried hard enough, I could almost remember sitting like this with him when I was just a wee girl. I closed my eyes and tried to pull the memory out but it was as good as lost.

"How'd you do it?" asked Carlisle. I opened my eyes and looked over at him.

"Do what?" I asked.

"Go through your newborn stage alone. Live for two hundred plus years all alone," he said, shrugging his shoulders. I frowned as I looked away.

"I don't know," I muttered. "Not like I had a choice in the matter."

"I know," sighed Carlisle. "I wish I could have been there with you."

"Me too," I said, softly. "But then you wouldn't have met Esme and be passionately in love with her."

"True," smiled Carlisle.

"What does it feel like to be in love?" I asked, pulling my knees up and laying my head on them.

"It feels…incredible," mused Carlisle, smiling to himself. "I knew the moment I saw her. She was still human then and…so beautiful. I had resigned myself to loving her from a distance."

"Why?" I asked. "Because she was human?"

"Yes," said Carlisle, slowly. "And no. It's more complicated than that but not my story to tell."

"So when did it change?" I asked.

"It was in 1923," smiled Carlisle. "Edward and I were living in Columbus, Ohio at the time. I was working in the ER when they wheeled her in. She had…fallen off a bridge and they assumed she was dead because her heartbeat was so faint, they couldn't hear it but I could. I'll admit to being weak but I couldn't let her die," he muttered, looking away from me. "So I stole her from the morgue and took her back to mine and Edward's apartment and…"

"Changed her," I finished for him.

"Yes, I changed her," sighed Carlisle. "It was the hardest choice I had ever made but I just couldn't live without her."

"She obviously loves you, Carlisle," I said, slipping my arm through his.

"I know she does," smiled Carlisle.

"I envy you," I whispered.

"Why?" he asked, looking down at me.

"Because you found the love of your life," I sighed. "You're very lucky."

"You'll find yours," he said, reassuring me. I rolled my eyes and looked away. "You will."

"It's been three hundred and forty some odd years, brother," I muttered, harshly.

"Maybe you aren't looking in the right place," suggested Carlisle. I rolled my eyes as he stood up. "Come on. It's time for you to get ready for school."

I groaned as Carlisle pulled me to my feet. Carlisle and I headed back to the house. When we walked in, Jasper, Alice, Emmett, Rose, and Esme were sitting in the living room, watching television. Carlisle went straight to Esme and kissed her. I looked away as I headed up the stairs. He really was lucky. I was almost to my room when the door to Edward's room opened.

"Hey," he said. I stopped and looked back at him.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"I want to talk to you," he said, stepping toward me. I stepped back until I was against the door.

"I have nothing to say to you," I muttered, grabbing the doorknob. "You just…"

I trailed off as I pushed the door open and stepped into my room. I shut the door leaving Edward on the other side. Closing my eyes, I heard him step up to the door and place his hand flat against the wood. I could feel him on the other side of the door.

"I'm not sorry," he whispered. "When you see it, I'll be right here."

"You don't know what you are saying," I murmured. "I'm not the person you think I am, Edward."

"Yes, you are," he whispered. "One day, you'll see it."

Shaking me head, I pushed off the door and went into the bathroom. I quickly showered, washing the evidence of my runs and hunt off of my body. I dried off and headed back out to my room. I pulled on a pair of jeans and a blue fitted t-shirt. I pulled on a pair of dark boots and pulled my hair up. I grabbed my backpack and headed downstairs to where everyone was waiting for me.

I could feel Edward's eyes on me. Part of me wanted him to turn away and leave me alone. The other part of me craved his attention. I had never been so confused. My mind and body were battling with the two options and I wasn't sure which one I wanted to win.

"We should get going," said Rose, standing up.

"Yeah," muttered Edward.

"I'm running," I grumbled.

"You can ride with me," insisted Edward. I cocked my eyebrow at him.

"Like I can trust you now," I scoffed.

"Bella, ride with me and Emmett," insisted Rose. I went to protest but she held up her hand. "I'm not really asking."

"Fine," I grumbled.

I followed Emmett and Rose out to Emmett's jeep. I looked back as Edward, Jasper, and Alice climbed into his car. He looked over at me and started to smile but I looked away and jumped into the backseat of the jeep. Rose and Emmett climbed in and took off after Edward.

"I don't know what my idiot brother did to you," said Rose, looking back at me. "Alice can't see us when we are around you but if he…hurt you, I'll rip him to pieces myself."

"He didn't hurt me," I muttered, looking out the window.

"Did he say something to upset you?" asked Emmett, harshly. "Cause I'll kick his ass for that too."

"Why?" I asked, looking over at him. "He's your brother and I'm a stranger. Why would you care if he upset me?"

"He may be my brother, and I love his scrawny ass, but you are a part of this family now, Bella," said Emmett, seriously. "I don't let anyone hurt my family."

"He didn't say anything to upset me," I muttered. "Don't worry about it, ok?"

"If you say so," sighed Emmett.

Neither Emmet nor Rose said anything as we pulled up into the school parking lot. The three of us climbed out of the jeep and headed into the school. Jasper was leaning against his locker, glaring at Edward. He, of course, was glaring back at Jasper. Alice was standing next to Jasper, looking between the two of them like she was trying figure out just what was going on.

"Jas, stop glaring at him," I hissed, under my breath. He turned and glared at me. "Jasper?"

"You used to trust me," grumbled Jasper. "Now all the sudden, you don't need me."

"Jasper, that's not true. I do need you," I said. Jasper simply rolled his eyes and walked away. "JAS!"

He ignored me and kept walking down the hallway. Alice gave me a soft smile as she took off after him. That was just great. My best friend was now mad at me. He thought I didn't need him which was the biggest load of bullshit. He was the only person who understood everything. He had been the one who was there for me after everything in Africa.

"Come on, Bella," said Rose, looping her arm in with mine. "Let's get to class."

"Bella-"

"Leave her alone, Edward," snarled Rose, pulling me down the hallway. I looked back and saw Emmett pulling him into the other direction. Why did it hurt to see him leaving me?

Rose and I made it to our class just before the bell rang. I was too distracted to even notice that humans gawking at us. We settled into our seat and pretended to listen to Mr. Mason. Once the bell rang, we headed out into the hallway and off to our next classes. That's pretty much how the rest of the morning went. I would sit there in the room with the humans, listening to their hearts racing, their increased breathing, and muttering to each other. In between my classes, I searched in vain for Jasper but he was avoiding me. I knew it and he knew it.

When lunch time came around, I headed outside instead of going to the cafeteria. The last thing I wanted was to be around everyone. I settled down under one of the trees and watched the drizzle falling around me. I heard Jasper come out and sit down next to me but he didn't say anything.

"I do need you," I whispered several minutes later.

"Doesn't feel like it," muttered Jasper. "You have your real brother now. You don't need a fake one."

"You are my real brother, Jas," I said, looking over at him. "You're the only person I can count on right now. You know that."

"No, I don't," sighed Jasper, looking at me. "What did he do to you?"

"He kissed me," I muttered. Jasper smiled and shook his head. "It's not funny."

"Oh, it's plenty funny," laughed Jasper. "I was thinking he hit you or something worse. I didn't realize it was just a little kiss."

"I'm so confused, Jas," I sighed, laying my head on his shoulder.

"What's confusing you?" he asked, slipping his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

"I don't know," I said. "I like him but then I hate him. I want him but then I don't…It's all so confusing."

"Sounds like something else to me," sang Jasper. I pulled back and looked up at him.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"I'm not going to tell you, Bella. I'm going to make you figure it out for yourself," said Jasper. "But I will tell you this, you know what you are feeling, even if you are too scared to admit it to yourself."

"What the hell does that mean?" I asked as Jasper stood up and pulled me to my feet.

"Just think about it," laughed Jasper.

I growled at Jasper as he dragged me back into the school. He was still laughing as he made his way down the hallway to his class. I rolled my eyes, even though he couldn't see it, and headed down to my biology class. Edward was already there when I got walked into the classroom. He looked up at me but quickly looked away. Why did that hurt?

I went over and slid onto the stood next to him, dropping my backpack onto the floor next to me. I placed my hands on the table in front of me, threading my fingers together. I felt Edward turn on his stool and lean over to me but I couldn't look back at him.

"Are you ok?" he asked. I looked over at him. He was so close to me. "Bella?"

"I'm fine," I muttered, looking away.

"Bella-"

"Just…don't," I whispered, looking back at him. "Please."

"Fine," He murmured, turning back to the front.

As Mr. Banner started his class, I found myself staring mindlessly outside. The rain had picked up and was falling much harder than it had at lunch. The sky had turned so dark that it was nearly as dark as nighttime out there. It was almost like it was mimicking my feelings. Once the bell rang, I stood up and grabbed my backpack. I looked back at Edward, who seemed to be just standing there.

I opened my mouth to speak to him but changed my mind at the last minute. Instead, I placed my hand on his arm for a moment and walked past him. He followed me down to the gym and went into the men's dressing room while I went into the women's. I quickly changed into my gym clothes, ignoring the gawking coming from the other girls. Yes, I had a nice body. No reason to stare, for christ sake. I headed down to the gym and reluctantly joined Emmett, Edward, and the humans in several games of volleyball. It was dreadfully boring and I detested moving at human speed. How did they enjoy moving so slowly?

Once gym was over, I changed back into my regular clothes and headed out to the parking lot. The rain was really starting to pour now. Most of the humans were coming out with raincoats and umbrellas. However, I was enjoying the rain. I had always loved the rain.

"Bella," gasped Alice, running over with her own umbrella over her head. "You are getting soaked!"

"So," I laughed. "It feels amazing!"

"But your hair," she whined.

"Ali, leave her alone," chuckled Jasper, joining her under the umbrella. "She loves the rain."

"But, Jas," whined Alice.

"No, just let her be," smiled Jasper, looking down at her as he slipped on arm around her. She practically melted into his embrace. I quickly looked away.

"I'm going to run home," I said, quietly.

"You ok?" asked Jasper. I looked back over at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Jas," I smiled. "I just want to feel the rain washing over me."

Jasper just smiled and nodded as he took my backpack from me. I looked from him to Alice and saw it. They were in love with each other. I turned and ran into the woods, letting the rain wash down over me. I had only been running for a couple of minutes when I heard someone behind me. I stopped and looked back to see Edward standing there, hair soaking wet and hanging in his face.

"Why do you always run?" he asked, stepping toward me. My mind was telling me to move but my feet weren't listening. "Why, Bella, are you always running from me?"

"I don't know," I said, quietly. "Why are you always chasing me?"

"I…" he trailed off, looking away.

"Why do you chase me, Edward?" I asked, stepping closer to him. He looked back at me.

"I don't know," he said, honestly. "When you aren't there, I feel like…a part of me is missing."

"You just met me," I said, shaking my head.

"I know," muttered Edward, waving his hand in the air. "It's crazy, Bella, but when you are away from me, it feels like…I'm going to die."

"You're right," I said. "That is crazy."

"Are you saying you don't feel the same way?" he asked. The pain etched in his face was heartbreaking.

"I don't know," I whispered. "I'm so confused, Edward."

"I'm not going to hurt you," insisted Edward, stepping closer to me.

"How do I know that?" I asked. "I've done things that I am not proud of, Edward. I'm not talking about killing an army of newborns."

"So have I," admitted Edward. "I've killed humans, Bella. I've drank them dry because I thought the world would be better off without them. I told myself they were the monsters but I was the monster."

"You could never be a monster," I murmured, stepping closer to him.

"Trust me, I was," he whispered, stepping up right in front of me. He raised his hand up to my cheek. "Bella."

"Edward," I murmured, leaning into his hand.

"Please, don't push me away again," whispered Edward, slowly leaning down. "Please."

Edward closed the gap and gently pressed his lips down onto mine. This kiss was soft, gentle. This was the kiss that I had waited my entire life for. I slipped my arms around him, pulling his body flush with mine. Edward moved his other hand up and cradled my face in between his hands. He slowly pulled his lips off of mine, leaving his forehead pressed down onto mine.

"Please," he whispered again.

"I'll try not to," I murmured.

"I'll take that," smiled Edward, kissing me again. "We should get back to the house before they come looking for us. They already think I'm losing it."

I laughed softly as Edward slid his hand into mine as we slowly made our way to back toward the house. We walked up onto the porch and Edward opened the door for me. I smiled as I looked from him to everyone else. Then I froze.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" I growled. The dark haired man on the couch snorted as he stood up.

"I should have know Carlisle was talking about you, Isabella," muttered Eleazar. "It's been awhile since Africa."

**Thank you for all the reviews. So you know how I said this story was only going to be ten or so chapters long? Yeah, I was wrong. I'm not sure how long it will be but it will definitely be longer than I expected. Please keep the reviews coming. They would make me smile.**


	8. Chapter 8

"You would bring up Africa," I snarled. "Seeing as I had to clean up your fucking mess."

"Our mess," snorted Eleazar, rolling his eyes. It was then that I realized that his eyes were no longer the blood red I had come to known him with. "We had to do plenty of damage control to cover up your mess in Mexico."

"Well, maybe if you had been doing your jobs, I wouldn't have had to handle Mexico myself," I hissed.

"What the hell is he doing here?" growled Jasper.

I didn't need to look back to know that he, Alice, Emmett, and Rose were standing behind us or that Jasper was crouched down in his battle stance. Jasper hated Eleazar just as much, if not more, than I did. Eleazar looked from me back to him and rolled his eyes.

"Why am I not surprised to see him here," scoffed Eleazar. "He always did follow you around like the little lapdog that he is."

"Eleazar?" asked Alice, stepping past Jasper. He reached out and gripped her wrist in his hand causing her to look back at him. "Jasper?"

"Stay away from him," seethed Jasper. "He can't be trusted."

"Eleazar is practically family, Jasper," said Alice, pulling her wrist out of his hand and stepping away from him. "And who do you think you are to tell me to stay away from anyone?"

"Alice, you don't know who he really is," hissed Jasper.

"I know him better than you do," huffed Alice. "He's part of our family."

"Family," I scoffed.

"Um, would someone like to explain what the hell is going on here?" asked Carlisle, looking between me and Jasper, who were glaring at the dark haired vampire, and Eleazar, who was glaring right back. "Bella, Eleazar has been a friend to the family for at least the last three decades."

"Well, I guess that doesn't make us a part of your family, Carlisle," I spat. "Seeing as the man tried to kill me and Jasper."

"What is all the commotion out here?" asked a strawberry blond woman as she came out of the kitchen with Esme, a tall blond woman, a sandy haired man, a snow blond woman, and-

"Isabella? Jasper?" asked Carmen, Eleazar's mate. Her eyes were wide open and full of shock. "What are you two doing here? We haven't seen you since Africa."

"Isabella," started Carlisle, but I hissed at him. He rolled his eyes at me. "Bella is my sister."

"Sister?" asked Eleazar, giving me the once over.

"Yes, sister," I snapped.

"I didn't know you had a sister, Carlisle," said Eleazar, suspiciously. "How can you be so sure that she is yours?"

"I would know her anywhere, Eleazar," growled Carlisle, moving over to me. He placed his hand on my shoulder but I shook it off. I wasn't feeling very hospitable right now. "Bella was seventeen when she disappeared one day walking home from work. Our father thought she had been taken by vampires, which is why he had been hunting them. You know the rest."

"Hello, Edward," smiled the strawberry blond, waving at him. Everyone looked over at her. Talk about random. "How are you?"

"Tanya," muttered Edward, dryly. "I'm confused as hell. Everyone is throwing a million different thoughts at me and I really don't like the ones coming from you so please stop having them."

"Look, everyone needs to calm down," said Emmett, moving into the middle of the room and standing like he was getting ready to referee a cage match. "I think we all need to sit down and calmly talk this all out."

"I am not sitting down with him," I growled, nodding toward Eleazar.

"Me either," snarled Jasper.

"I don't particularly want to sit with you either," sneered Eleazar.

"Everyone stop this," snapped Esme. I looked over at her. She was standing there with her hands on her hips, in a very motherly way. "Everyone sit your asses down."

For a split second, nobody moved. Then Carlisle moved over and sat down on one of the sofas followed closely by Esme, Emmett and Rose. Carmen, Eleazar, and Tanya settled onto one of the couches while the other three vampires with them moved so they were standing behind them. Alice looked back at Jasper and sighed before she moved over and sat down next to Emmett.

"Come on," urged Edward, pulling on my hand. I tore my eyes off of Eleazar's and looked up at him. "It's ok. Come on."

"Jas," I muttered.

"Yeah?" he asked, tersely.

"Stay very close."

"Got it," he muttered.

Jasper and I followed Edward over and sat down on the third sofa. The tension in the room was thick, almost suffocating. Carmen had her hand on top of Eleazar's, almost like she was trying to calm him down. Edward slipped his hand out of mine and moved it so it was laying on the couch behind me, causing the vampire named Tanya to glare at me. I merely stared at her until she looked away.

"Well, since nobody is going to introduce us, I guess I will," said the sandy haired vampire, looking around at everyone. His eyes stopped on me. "I'm Garrett. This is Kate, Irina, Tanya, and I guess you already know Eleazar and Carmen."

"Unfortunately," muttered Jasper.

"Unfortunate that we didn't kill you when we had the chance," muttered Eleazar. I felt Jasper wince at the pure venom that was laced in each word. I barred my teeth and growled at him.

"Eleazar," gasped Alice and Carmen.

"How can you say that?" asked Alice.

"What do you expect from someone who works for the Volturi?" I snarled.

"But he doesn't anymore," insisted Alice, looking from him to me.

"I'm so sure," I snorted.

"I don't," muttered Eleazar. I looked over at him. "Carmen and I left their service not long after the problem in Africa."

"What problem in Africa?" asked Emmett, looking from him to me. "All we are hearing is a bunch of vagueness about a supposed incident but we aren't being told much else."

"After Jasper and I left Mexico-"

"After leaving us to clean up after you," muttered Eleazar.

"Eleazar, hush," scolded Carmen, swatting her mate's leg. Eleazar rolled his eyes but didn't say anything else.

"As I was saying, after Jasper and I left Mexico, we headed to Africa for awhile," I explained.

"Why?" asked Carlisle. "Another feeling?"

I nodded my head. "We were traveling through Morogoro when we came upon the Volturi. They were camped out in what is now known as Mikumi National Park. Jasper and I spent a few days with them at the request of the brothers," I explained.

"I thought you said you hate the brothers and they know to stay away from you?" asked Carlisle.

"I do and they do now," I said, shortly. "Jasper and I traveled with them while they moved from Morogoro up towards Mvomero when we came across a colony of werewolves."

"You found puppies in Africa?" asked Emmett, smiling. "Are they as ugly as our puppies?"

"Uglier," I muttered. "For the record, the pooches from the reservation are not werewolves; they are shape shifters."

"Seriously?" asked Emmett. I nodded my head. "Bummer."

"Believe me, real werewolves are much uglier, even in their human form," I snorted.

"Well, she's right about that," muttered Eleazar. I turned and looked at him.

"I'm right about a lot of things," I said, harshly. "The werewolves were out of control and had nearly slaughtered every innocent in the area by the time we came upon them. However, instead of destroying them, the brothers tried to capture them so they could use them for their bidding. Jasper and I disagreed with them and refused to be involved in it and left. That's when the brothers sent the half their guard after us."

"Eleazar, is that true?" asked Carlisle, turning to his supposed friend. Eleazar shifted uncomfortably.

"Yes," he said. "The brothers, namely Aro, didn't want to let Isabella go because they wanted her power. We all know how power hungry that man is."

"Well, seeing as you are sitting here, it would seem that the Volturi failed," said Emmett, almost eagerly causing Rose to roll her eyes. "So what happened next?"

"Jasper and I had gotten as far as Segera when the majority of the guard and all of the wolves caught up with us," I explained. "The guard sent the wolves on us but we were able to kill them all."

"You took down an entirely colony of wolves on your own?" asked Emmett. He was nearly vibrating with excitement. Even Rose seemed excited now, though.

"No, Jasper helped," I said. Alice smiled as she looked over at Jasper, almost like she was proud of him.

"No, I barely got one pup down while you were battling six," snorted Jasper. I looked over at him. "Don't look at me like that, it's true."

"Anyway," I said, rolling my eyes as I looked back at everyone else. "Once Jasper and I had destroyed the wolves, the guard came at us. By now nearly all of the village was awake and had stumbled out of their homes to see what was going on. Here Jasper and I were fighting the dozen members of the guard while innocents were standing around watching. The brothers and the rest of the guard showed up just as we were destroying the last of the guards."

"You should have felt the fear that was flowing off of the brothers," smirked Jasper, folding his arms as he glared at Eleazar. "They knew they wouldn't be able to stop Bella."

"I informed the brothers that they if didn't want me to kill them all, that they would stay as far away from me and Jasper as they could," I said, continuing on with the story. "They agreed and Jasper and I fled."

"But not before you killed all those humans," muttered Eleazar. I adverted my eyes from everyone as I stood up and moved over to the window.

"Bella?" asked Carlisle.

"I lost control," I said, quietly. "I'm not proud of what I did. I've regretted it everyday."

"They wouldn't have been hurt at all if the Volturi hadn't been trying to kill us in the first place," muttered Jasper.

"That's true," admitted Eleazar.

We fell into an awkward, tense silence. As I stood in front of the window, I could hear those humans screaming as their bodies were ripped apart. I had never felt such a surge of power through my body as I did that night. It was almost like the power was radiating off of me. I couldn't control it and it cost all of them their lives. I was a horrible person for having taken their lives from them. Maybe I was even worse than the Volturi.

"For the record, I told the brothers to let you go," said Eleazar, several minutes later. I turned and looked at him. "Once you and Jasper left, I advised him that it would be better for him to let you be but he was stubborn and wanted you too much to let that happen."

"Is that why you didn't fight with the rest of the guard?" I asked. "Or was that because you were too scared to die with your friends?"

"I didn't fight with the rest of the guard, Isabella, because it wasn't my battle to fight," said Eleazar, standing up. "I wasn't going to die because some foolish man got a taste of the most powerful vampire ever known to exist."

"What are you talking about?" asked Carlisle, moving over to me.

"I'm talking about the only vampire to be able to end the world."

**Thank you for all the reviews over the last chapter. I appreciate them all. This chappie goes out to Miss-Beckie-Louise. Hope this tides you over for a few days.**


	9. Chapter 9

One of the few memories I have from my human life was of me and Carlisle playing in the field behind our small house. We would spend hours running through the grass barefoot, letting the blades slip between our toes. Sometimes we would play tag and other times we would play hide and go seek. The last time I remember us in that field was just before I was changed.

_I had gotten into an argument with Father over turning down yet another suitor and he had slapped me, calling me a insolent little girl. I took off running through the house and out into the field. I fell to my knee and started sobbing into my hands. I'm not sure how long I had been out there when Carlisle came upon me and sat down next to me. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me as close as he could._

"_Don't listen to him, Isabella," whispered Carlisle. _

"_He told me I had a week to choose a suitor or I was not going to be welcomed back home, Carlisle," I cried. "How can I agree to marry someone I do not love?"_

"_You can't, Isabella," said Carlisle, tilting my face up to his. "One day, you will find the man who is destined to love you forever."_

"_Do you promise, brother?" I asked._

"_I promise, sister," smiled Carlisle_

With those heavy words floating through the room, I felt eleven pairs of eyes fall onto me. I turned and looked out the window. The only two people not staring at me were Jasper and Eleazar but I knew they wouldn't. This wasn't our first trip down this road. Carlisle placed his hand on my shoulder and I looked over at him. He had a mixture of fear and anticipation buried in his butterscotch eyes.

"What's he talking about, sister?" asked Carlisle.

"A bunch of nonsense," I murmured, looking back outside. "If you ask me, I think he's a smidge crazy."

"I am not crazy, Isabella," muttered Eleazar. "We've had this discussion before."

"It was nonsense then and it still is," I hissed. "And it's Bella, not Isabella. She died in Africa along with the humans you decided to throw in my face."

"It is not nonsense," growled Eleazar. I spun around and glared at him. "You can't hide forever, Bella. Sooner or later they will find you."

"I know that," I muttered.

"Someone, please, explain what the hell is going on here," exclaimed Tanya. Irina, Kate, and Garrett were looking between me and Eleazar with wide eyes. It was only then that I noticed that they had the same butterscotch eyes that the rest of us have.

"Do you hunt animals?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"What?" she asked.

"Your eyes are not red," I pointed out.

"Yes, we feed off of animals," said Tanya, quickly. "Don't think you can change the subject that easily. I demand to know what Eleazar was talking about."

"We do too," grumbled Emmett, standing up. Rose nodded her head and stood up with him. I rolled my eyes and looked out the window.

"Bella is a shield," explained Eleazar.

"Yes, we already know that," said Carlisle. "Nothing works on her."

"Nothing?" asked Kate, doubtfully. I turned back and looked at her.

"Nothing," I said, firmly.

"Prove it," she smirked, ignoring Garrett's efforts to keep her by him and coming over so that she was standing in front of me. "I have the ability to produce an electric current over my skin that can shock and incapacitate attackers. Let's see if it works on you."

"Have fun trying," I sighed, holding out my hand.

As Kate smirked and grabbed my hand firmly in hers, everyone moved so that they were huddled around us. I knew this was something they were all curious about. Well, everyone but Jasper. He plopped down on the sofa, looking extremely bored. Kate's smirk dropped off her face as she tightened her hold on my hand.

"I told you," I said, dryly, pulling my hand out of hers.

"I doubt believe it," muttered Kate, looking up at me with wide eyes. "I've never known anyone who could block me."

"I'm sure that's true, Kate," said Eleazar, causing everyone to look over at him. "See, Isabella-"

"Bella," I snarled.

"See, Bella," he said, giving me a dirty look, "is not only a mental shield but a physical shied as well. She's virtually indestructible."

"That's not true," I scoffed, shaking my head.

"Oh, yes, it is," smirked Eleazar. He turned and looked at Edward. "Can you read her mind?"

"No," whispered Edward. Eleazar's smirk grew as he looked over at Alice.

"Can you see her?" he asked.

"No," said Alice, frowning. "It's very annoying. Makes shopping for her very difficult for me."

I rolled my eyes. Leave it to Alice to be more concerned with being able to shop for me than to be able to see my future or anyone else's for that matter.

"I'm sure it is, dear," winked Eleazar. He looked over at Jasper and his friendly expression immediately dropped. "I already know you can't manipulate her like you do everyone else."

"For once, you are right, Eleazar," smirked Jasper. "Guess it was bound to happen sooner or later."

I turned back to the window and watched as the rain continued to fall. I already knew about my shield. Eleazar was the one who helped me figure it out. At least he helped me until Jasper and I were sold out by the brothers. Then he turned on me.

"Ok, so she's a shield," snorted Tanya, pulling me out of my inner ramblings. I looked back at everyone. "That doesn't spell end of the world."

"No, it doesn't," sighed Eleazar, looking back at me. "But that's not her only power."

"What's her other power?" asked Carlisle, placing his hand back on my shoulder. I leaned my head down and laid it on top of my brother's hand.

"Bella has the ability to draw energy off of those around her," explained Eleazar. I looked back at him. "See, that's why she is as strong as she is. She feeds off their strength, making her stronger and tougher than they are."

"So that's how she ripped my arms off," muttered Emmett, nodding his head. Once again Tanya, Kate, Garrett, Irina, Carmen, and Eleazar looked at me with wide eyes.

"She ripped your arms off?" asked Garrett, tearing his eyes off of me and looking at Emmett.

"Yes, the day we met her," said Emmett.

Emmett quickly explained about our meeting in the woods. As he retold the story, the people with Eleazar looked over at me several times. I was getting tired of them staring at me like I had two heads, a third eye, or horns growing out of the top of my head. It made me feel very uncomfortable and I quickly felt the need to run creeping up on me again.

"Wow," whispered Garrett. "So…just wow."

"So…" trailed off Edward. I turned and looked at him. He was watching me with a look of…a look of fear. Pure fear. I turned away from him, closing my eyes. "I don't understand. What are you saying?"

"Let's take the situation in Mexico," started Eleazar. "When Maria sent all those newborns after Bella, she was able to draw on their newborn strength, boosting her own. That gave her the ability to fight them all off. The more newborns that came at her, the stronger she became."

"So when she ripped my arms off, she somehow tapped into my strength, stealing it from me, and used it against me?" asked Emmett.

"Exactly," said Eleazar. Emmett snapped his head over at me.

"You're a cheater," he smiled. "I could totally take you if you hadn't cheated."

"Emmett," said Esme, firmly giving him a look that said this is not the time.

"Sorry," he muttered, sitting down on the couch next to Jasper. He looked over at him and smiled. "So, you're pretty powerless against her, too, huh?"

"Yep," snorted Jasper. "Thanks for pointing that out though, man. Appreciate you pointing out my short comings."

"That's what I am here for," Emmett said, smiling widely.

"Emmett," hissed Esme. "Do I need to send you to your room?"

"No, ma'am," muttered Emmett, quickly. He then made the motion of zipping his lips shut and throwing away the key. I laughed softly at him.

"You are such a dork, Emmett, but I'm starting to like you," I smiled. Emmett winked at me and shrugged his shoulders as if to say what's not to like.

"Can we please get back onto the subject at hand?" asked Edward, shortly. I sighed as I looked over at him. "I don't understand why Bella's ability to boost her strength gives her the ability to end the world."

"Because the more vampires she comes into contact with, the stronger she gets. Not only that but she can tape into their gifts and use those to against everyone as well," explained Eleazar. "Why do think Aro wants her so bad."

"You mean wanted," corrected Carlisle. Eleazar shook his head as he looked at my brother.

"No, I meant wants," he frowned. "From what I've heard, he's been searching for her since Africa but every time he gets close to her, she takes off."

"What?" gasped Edward, stumbling back. "He wants her?"

"Yes," said Eleazar, looking over at him. "She would be a fine addition to his collection and make him, Caius, and Marcus just as indestructible as she is. With her tapping into Jane or Alec's powers, she would be the biggest threat to the humanity."

"He can't have her," growled Edward, moving over and crouching in front of me. "She's mine."

With those two little words, every head in the room snapped over to the two of us, including Jasper and Carlisle. Neither of them looked all too happy with his declaration.

**Thank you for all the reviews. I know this chapter is much shorter than what I have been putting up but it's just how it wanted to come out. **


	10. Chapter 10

I rolled my eyes as I looked from my brother and Jasper to the auburn haired vampire crouched down in front of me. While in some ways Edward's declaration was sweet, almost endearing even, I wasn't anyone's anything and I certainly wasn't in the mood to stand around while they had a pissing contest, so to speak anyway.

"Oh for crying out loud," I growled, yanking Edward up by one arm and turning to Carlisle and Jasper. "Don't even think about spouting off about what he just said."

"Bella," snarled Jasper. "I can feel everything that…thing is feeling and he's not feeling anything but possessiveness over you."

"Jasper, stop feeling him," I snapped. Carlisle bared his teeth and growled at Edward. "Carlisle, stop it. You are acting like a child."

"She's not yours, Edward," sneered Carlisle, ignoring me.

From behind Carlisle, I could see Emmett, Alice, Rosalie, and Esme all watching Carlisle act like a neandertal with amused expressions on their faces. Garrett, Kate, Irina, and Tanya looked bored while Carmen had her hand on Eleazar's shoulder, almost like she was trying to calm him down as well. It didn't make any sense to me why he would be acting like that since he hadn't exactly hidden the fact that he disliked me.

Rolling my eyes once again at all of them, I released Edward's arm, turned around, and left. I wasn't going to stand around and watch them act like children. I had more pressing matters on hand than that, like the fact that Eleazar just branded me as the next mass murderer. As soon as I was out the door, I took off running, ignoring the bickering that started inside the large glass house.

The rain was still falling down quite heavily but I wasn't enjoying it the way I had been this afternoon. The heavy drops fell onto my granite skin like I would have expected teardrops to fall, if I could cry anymore. I ran until I found myself back in that clearing, the ominous feeling was still there and now, I was almost certain it was the brothers. Perhaps, they had finally caught up with me.

"You're over thinking things again," said Eleazar. I snarled at him and headed further into the clearing. "Isabella."

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I came to apologize," he muttered. I snorted as I stopped and looked back at him.

"Apologize?" I asked. "Apologize for what, Eleazar? Calling me a murderer in front of my brother? Or perhaps it was for betraying me and Jasper in Africa in the first place?"

"I'm sorry about how things went down in Africa, Isabella," sighed Eleazar, shaking his head. "I didn't intend for that to happen."

"But it did and instead of fighting with us, you and Carmen stood back and watched while they attacked us," I said, quietly. I turned back to the clearing and looked around. "Why did you leave the guard?"

"I couldn't stay with them after that day," said Eleazar. I felt him move over until he was standing next to me. "I should have known the moment that you and Jasper stumbled upon us that you were so powerful."

"You can't feel me either," I said, looking over at him. "Has that changed?"

"No," smiled Eleazar. "You are still an enigma, Isabella."

"Isabella doesn't exist anymore, Eleazar," I sighed, shaking my head.

"Right," he murmured. "I've just know you as her for a very long time and I'm afraid, I haven't thought kindly about you."

"I haven't thought kindly of you either, old man," I smirked.

"Why would you," he muttered, darkly. "Carmen and I knew the moment that Aro sent them to catch you that we shouldn't be there. Aro was reluctant to let us go but I think he did because he expected me to lead him to you."

"Did you?" I asked.

"No," he grumbled. "As much as I wanted to blame you, still want to blame you, for what happened, I knew it wasn't your fault. If Aro catches up with you, it would be devastating, Bella."

"I know," I whispered, crouching down and running my hand through the mud. "They're coming, aren't they?"

"I think so," he murmured, squatting down next to me. "I'm sure they've been tracking your movements, Bella."

"I know," I said, quietly as I closed my eyes. "I can feel them. I feel their energy. It won't take them long to find me here."

"What are you going to do?" he asked. I shook my head as I looked over at him.

"I don't know," I answered, honestly. "I know I should leave, Eleazar, to protect them but I don't think I can."

"You care greatly for Edward, don't you?" he asked, almost smirking as he looked at me. I rolled my eyes and looked away. "If you were human, you would be blushing."

"Yes, I care for him," I whispered. "But it's complicated."

"No, it's not, my dear," sighed Eleazar. "Sometimes the hardest thing we can do in life is open our hearts up to those around us."

"Did you get that from a hallmark card?" I asked, smiling at him.

"Maybe," he said with a small smile playing on his lips. "If it helps at all, I've known Edward for a long time, Bella. He's a good man."

"I'm sure he is," I murmured, looking away. "But I don't want to hurt him."

"I know you don't," sighed Eleazar.

"You should apologize to Jasper, Eleazar," I said, seriously. "You know how much he has struggled with what he did in Mexico. I know you don't think I should have let him live but it wasn't his fault. He wasn't taught any other way."

"No one was there to teach you not to be savage either, Bella, yet you aren't," he pointed out.

"Yes, but I have better control than most of our kind," I said. "Besides, how many humans have you feed on, Eleazar?"

"Touché, Bella, touché," sighed Eleazar. "I'll try but he's not going to be as level headed as you are."

"I think he'll surprise you," I said, looking over at him. "After all, he's found love."

"Aw, yes, with the lovely little Alice," murmured Eleazar. "You know, I never would have thought about Alice and Jasper as mates, but maybe, I wasn't seeing very clearly."

"Do any of us?" I asked.

"Am I interrupting?" asked Carlisle. I stood up and looked back at my brother.

"No," said Eleazar. "I'll just leave you alone."

"Eleazar, thank you," I murmured.

"I should thank you for not killing this foolish man," he whispered.

Eleazar nodded at Carlisle before he took off. I looked away from my brother and back at the clearing. Carlisle moved over and stood next to me but didn't say anything. Maybe he didn't know what to say or what to think. I suppose this was just as hard on him as it was on me. After all, I will always be his little sister.

"Are you in love with him?" asked Carlisle.

"I don't know," I answered, honestly. I looked back over at him. "I don't know what love feels like, Carlisle. I've never felt it in my three hundred plus years. How do I know if what I feel for him is love or just loneliness?"

"I fucking hate this," grumbled Carlisle, throwing his hands up in the air. "I just got you back, Bella, and now you are all in love and shit."

"Whoa," I said, putting my own hands up. "First of all, I don't know that I am in love with him. Second of all, even if I am, that doesn't mean that I am going to leave you, brother."

"But it won't be the same," he grumbled, sitting on the ground. I sat down next to him. "You're suppose to be my little innocent sister and all I've heard is how you've killed an entire army of newborns, werewolves, and humans. Oh and not only that but you could end the world if you wanted to."

"I don't know what I'm supposed to say," I muttered, looking at anything but him. "It's not like I asked for this. I didn't choose to kill anyone, Carlisle. Everyday that I've existed, I've heard those people screaming in my head for me not to hurt them, begging me to let them live. I couldn't control it. I couldn't stop and I hate myself for it."

"I didn't mean to make you feel guilty," whispered Carlisle. I looked over at him.

"I don't need you to make me feel the guilt, brother. I feel it just fine all by myself," I said, quietly.

"It's not your fault," he murmured, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "I'm sorry for saying that."

"I don't want to be a killer," I whispered.

"I know," sighed Carlisle. "Are you in love with him?"

"I really don't know," I muttered. "I feel this connection with him. Like he's…"

"Your soul mate," whispered Carlisle. I looked up at him. He had a small smile playing on his lips. "Bella, I love Edward. In so many ways, he's my son but he's also my friend. While I don't like the idea of my little sister with him or anyone, you could do worse."

"That almost sounded sweet, Carlisle," I said, smiling at him. "Not that I need your permission being as I am old enough to decide for myself, but having your blessing to pursue whatever he and I have together does make me happy."

"Just don't be all gross in front of me, ok?" he asked, frowning. "Because I really don't think I could handle that."

"Do I need to remind you that I can hear you and Esme having sex all the time?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow at him. He grimaced. "Exactly my point, brother."

"But, Bella," he whined. "This is different."

"How?" I asked, laughing at him.

"Because you're my little sister," he muttered.

"Oh, Carlisle," I sighed, shaking my head. "You sounded like father just then."

"I did not," he scoffed.

"Yes, you did," I laughed. "What would dear old father think about you and Esme?"

"Knowing that old man, he probably would have told me that she wasn't good enough for me and insisted that I marry Miss Harriett from the dress shop instead," said Carlisle, snorting.

"Probably." I smiled as I looked around that the meadow. "Would he like Edward?"

"Probably not," said Carlisle, frowning. "But would it have mattered?"

"No," I smiled, looking back over at him. "In fact, it would only have added to the fun."

"Then it shouldn't matter if I like it or if Jasper likes it," sighed Carlisle, shaking his head.

"But you two matter to me, brother," I said, quietly. "Jasper's been with me for a long time, Carlisle. His approval means a lot to me and so does yours. You are the only person who knew me as a human. You know how much I've longed to find love."

"I do," he sighed, standing up. He pulled me up onto my feet and hugged me. "I love you, sister."

"I love you too, brother."

Carlisle kissed the top of my forehead before he took off running back into the woods towards the house. Somehow, I knew that Edward was waiting for me in the meadow. I felt it. Maybe I was in love with that vampire.

I took off running toward the meadow, almost feeling giddy as I rushed past the trees. I was almost there when I smelt the puppies from the reservation. I skidded to a stop and crouched down. The smell was overbearing and nauseating. Just as I expected, the wolves stepped out of the trees. Only this time, instead of only four angry wolves, there were more than a dozen.

**Thank you for all the reviews. Please keep them coming. See, Eleazar isn't all bad, just a bit of a prick.**


	11. Chapter 11

I groaned inwardly as I looked around at the dozen plus men and one female standing in a circle around me. Except for the woman, they were all half naked and barefoot. I wasn't in the mood to deal with a bunch of ugly mutts who should home in bed or chasing cat or something.

"Well, well, well, boys," smirked Jacob. The bitch in the back cleared her throat. He rolled his eyes and gestured to her. "And Leah. Look what we have here."

"What do you want?" I asked, dryly. "I'm kind of busy."

"Busy," snorted one of the boys in the back. He couldn't be more than eighteen or nineteen yet he was acting like he was a real badass. "Busy doing what exactly?" he asked. "Heading into town to grab a light snack."

"Well, seeing as town is in the other direction, you stupid pup," I said, rolling my eyes, "that would be a no. Can I do something for you?"

"Can you do something for us," murmured Sam, looking around at the rest of his pack before looking at me. "We know who you are, leech. We know what you are going to do."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked. "You don't know me."

"Oh but we do," smirked Sam, moving so that he was circling around me. I heard his puppy friends cackling under their breathes. It was very annoying. "We've heard the stories, too."

"Stories?" I asked.

"Don't play dumb with me, leech." Sam stopped right in front of me. "I know you know what I am talking about."

"Clearly you don't even know what you are talking about," I snorted. He reached out and gripped my face in his hand.

"Don't get smart with me, bitch," he spat.

"I would get you fucking hand off of me now or I will remove it myself and I can promise you that you won't like it," I hissed.

"I'm not scared of bloodsuckers like you," he smirked. I reached up and gripped his hand in mine. Twisting it backwards, I heard the bone snap as I pulled his hand off of me. "FUCKING CUNT!"

"I told you to get your hand off of me," I snarled. I let go of his hand and threw him to the ground. His pack all stepped towards me. "I would suggest you tell your pack of mutts to back the fuck off before I kill each and every one of you."

"You can't take all of us," growled Jacob. "GET HER!"

I barely had time to roll my eyes before he phased into his wolf form and sprang on me. I gripped him by the neck and flung him backwards into a tree before turning to the next one and the one after that. One by one, I threw the puppies into trees, boulders, each other but they kept coming back for more.

Two of the wolves gripped my arms between their teeth, trying to hold me still while a third one lunged for me. I slammed the two wolves holding onto my arms together, causing them to whine before I threw them at the third puppy. Jacob came at me again and I grabbed him around the neck, slid my hands to the side and-

"BELLA, NO!" yelled Edward.

I snapped my head over to see him standing about ten feet away from me with Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Rose, Alice, Jasper, Tanya, Eleazar, Carmen, Garrett, and Kate behind him. Except for Jasper, Carmen, and Eleazar, they looked shocked, almost scared. Edward stepped toward me but stopped when I growled at him. My entire body was shaking with rage and disgust.

"Don't," he said. He put his hands up as he took another step towards me. "I'm not going to hurt you. Just put the dog down."

"They attacked me," I snarled.

"We know," said Edward, quickly. "But they don't have to die because of it."

"Listen to the leech," hissed Sam, cradling his broken wrist to this chest.

"Fuck off, pup," growled Jasper.

"Bella," said Edward, taking two more steps toward me. "Let him go. It's ok."

I growled as I threw Jacob to the ground. He phased back into his human form as had the rest of his pack. I stumbled back a couple steps as I felt everyone looking at me, gawking at me like I was nothing more than a freak.

"STOP STARING AT ME!" I screamed, throwing my hands up.

I turned and started running as fast as I could away from all of them. Away from the stares, the questions, the unspoken accusations. Ran as far as away from the people that I could have killed in an instant. Just more bodies for me to add to the count of people that I've killed in all my years. I didn't want to be like this. I hated feeling so out of control all the time. I skidded to a stop and picked up a large boulder and threw it against a large tree.

"ARGH!" I screamed as the tree cracked and fell to the ground.

"Bella," said Edward.

I spun around and saw him standing ten or so feet behind me. There was an odd look on his face, like he couldn't decide if I was going to attack him. He took a small step toward me, slowly reaching out to me with his hand but I stepped away from him. I couldn't trust myself with him right now.

"Bella," he said, again. He was still reaching for me as he took another step.

"Don't," I whispered, shaking my head. "Don't want me, Edward."

"I do," he murmured, taking another step toward me but I stepped back again. "I do want you, Bella. All of you. I love you."

"Don't" I begged, backing up until I hit a tree. In an instant, Edward was standing in front of me. He raised his hand up to my cheek. "I'm not a good person."

"You're perfect," he whispered, leaning down.

"Don't," I whispered just before his lips made contact with mine.

Edward slid his hand around my body, holding me to the tree. Every fiber of my body was telling me to hold onto him as tightly as I could. To do whatever I could to keep him with me but my mind was telling me differently. My mind was telling me to run, to hide.

"NO!" I screamed, pushing him away from me. He hit the ground several feet away but was already stalking toward me again. "Edward, don't. Please don't."

"You can't keep fighting me, love," said Edward, calmly. "You won't hurt me."

"You can't know that," I murmured, moving away from the tree. "I came so close to killing them. I could have killed you before you had a chance to blink."

"But you didn't," smiled Edward, coming closer to me. "You won't hurt me."

"Edward," I whispered.

"You didn't kill them," said Edward. "You didn't kill me."

"Please," I murmured, backing into another tree. Edward placed one hand on my hip while caressing my cheek with his other hand. My eyes fluttered to a close. "Please."

"I love you, Bella," whispered Edward, leaning down until his lips were just brushing against mine. "I've waited my entire life for you."

"Edward," I spoke softly.

"Bella," whispered Edward, placing his lips down on mine. "Do you want me to stop?"

"No," I murmured, softly.

I felt Edward's lips curve upward into a smile before he pressed his lips firmer down onto mine. He swiped at my bottom lip, asking for entrance into my mouth. A throaty moan slipped out between my lips as they parted, letting Edwards tongue invade me. My hands found their own way up his arms, over his neck to the back of his head, and wove themselves in his hair.

"Do you want me to stop?" he asked, again.

"Never," I whispered.

Edward kissed me again but this time he kiss was frantic and needy. His hand on my hip tightened before sliding down to my thigh and lifting my leg up over his hip. I let him push me further into the tree as I lifted my other leg up and hooked my feet up behind his waist. His hand slid around so that it was under my ass, holding me against the tree. I could feel his arousal pressing into me.

"Edward," I moaned, pushing on his shoulders. "Edward, stop."

"Bella," groaned Edward, pulling his lips from mine. "Please don't push me away."

"I'm not," I said, quickly. "I just…I don't want to do this here. Not up against a tree in the middle of the woods."

"Oh," whispered Edward, setting me down on my feet. "I'm sorry for acting so barbaric."

"Don't be sorry." I smiled softly as I placed my hands on his chest. "Did you mean what you said?"

"About being in love with you?" he asked, coyly. I nodded my head softly. "Yes, Bella, I am so in love with you."

"I think I love you, too," I whispered, looking away from him.

"You think?" he asked.

"I don't know what love feels like, Edward," I said, looking back up at him. "How can you know?"

"Well, for me it feels like a warm summer day," murmured Edward, pecking me on the lips. "It was like the moment I saw you, the world suddenly made sense to me. You feel like the other part of me and when we are apart, I hurt."

"It hurts me too," I said, frowning.

"That makes you sad?" he asked.

"I don't want to hurt you, Edward," I said, sadly. "You heard what Eleazar said."

"You won't hurt me," said Edward, stroking my cheek.

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"Because you love me," he smiled. A sexy crooked smile, which caused me to smile in return. "You just don't want to admit it yet."

"You seem awfully sure of yourself," I giggled.

"I am," smirked Edward. "Or maybe I've just opened my own eyes to what is in front of me."

"Oh, yeah?" I asked. He nodded his head softly. "What is that?"

"A beautiful," _kiss_, "sexy," _kiss_, "strong," _kiss_, "woman who owns my heart," whispered Edward.

"You're going to make me swoon," I gasped, clutching onto him.

"I'm just telling you what I see," smiled Edward.

"God, if I was human, I'm sure I would be so red right now," I muttered.

"I would have loved to see that," smirked Edward, stepping back from me. "We had better get going. We are going to be late for school."

"Gee, wouldn't that be such a shame," I said, snorting but I let him led me through the woods. "How can you tolerate school?"

"Lots of practice," laughed Edward, slipping his hand into mine. "I've lost count at how many schools this is for me."

"How dreadfully boring," I sighed.

"Yes, it is but it's much better now," said Edward, looking down at me. "Much better."

"Seriously going to cause me to swoon," I smiled, shaking my head.

Edward and I walked in silence for a few minutes, slowly taking our time to get back to the house. He kept my hand held snuggly in his own, like he was afraid that I was going to suddenly take off on him again. I guess I can't really blame him after how I've been. As we got closer to the house, I couldn't help but worry about the others and how they were doing to be now. Would this just prove Eleazar's point about me being dangerous?

"Are they mad at me?" I asked.

"I don't think so," said Edward, knowing who I was talking about. "The wolves ran off after you did. The others seemed…surprised with what they saw. Well, except for Jasper, Eleazar, and Carmen."

"Were you?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Yes," said Edward, quietly. "I've never seen anyone fight like that Bella. You moved so fast. How'd you do it?"

"I don't really know," I supposed.

"Well, I would think it's safe to say that they won't be bothering you again," smiled Edward. "You had them shaking with fear and running off with their tails between their legs."

I didn't say anything else as we walked back to the house. Edward and I walked up the front porch and he looked back at me and smiled before opening the front door. As soon as we walked in, everyone stopped talking and looked back at me and Edward.

"B, you ok?" asked Jasper, standing up from his seat next to Alice.

"I'm fine," I said, letting go of Edward's hand. "Let me clean up real fast and we can go to school."

"Bella-"

"Carlisle, later," I muttered, looking back at him. "Please."

"Ok, but we do have to talk about this later," said Carlisle.

"I know," I frowned.

I wrapped my arms around my torso and headed upstairs to my room. I could hear them all questioning Edward but he told them to leave it alone and followed me up the stairs. I shut the door to my room and stripped off my dirty, wet clothes and took a quick shower. I dried off and pulled on a pair of jeans, a blue blouse that Alice had bought me, and a pair of boots. I took a deep, unneeded breath before I opened my door and headed downstairs.

**Thank you for all the reviews. So…what do we think of the puppies? Will they come back seeking their revenge on Bella? Or do they know more about her than anyone else? **


	12. Chapter 12

After a few awkward moments standing in front of Carlisle, Esme, Eleazar, and the rest of the Denali clan, the six of us headed out to the garage and climbed into the various automobiles we would be taking to school. Obviously I climbed into the passenger seat of Edward's silver Volvo. Rose and Emmett climbed into his jeep, even though she had wanted to take her BMW. I'm kind of surprised that Emmett didn't give into her. She seemed to have him wrapped around her little finger. Alice led Jasper over to her canary yellow Porsche. Why she wanted such a bright, vibrant color for her car was something that didn't make sense to me. Wasn't it the whole point of this high school charade to make ourselves blend in with all the humans? Kind of hard to do that when you are driving a yellow Porsche to school, but I didn't say anything.

It only took a few minutes for the six of us to arrive at school. All the mindless humans were standing around gawking at us as we climbed out of our cars and headed into the brick building.

I figured it might have something to do with the black leather pants Rose was wearing black leather pants that were so tight that they looked panted on. Or it could be the denim mini-skirt and four inch heels that Alice was wearing. Either way, they were staring.

Edward held my hand, which might explain the handful of death glare I got from several of the female students that littered the hallway. It was amusing that they were jealous of the fact that Edward was mine. I couldn't stop the smile that sprang up on my face as I realized, perhaps for the first time, that he was mine and I was his. I really was in love with him.

"Why are you smiling?" asked Jasper, looking back over his shoulder at me as we stopped by our metal lockers.

"No reason," I said, still smiling. I looked up at the vampire standing next to me. Edward's smile was just as big as mine. "I'll see you later, ok?"

"Ok," he murmured. He brought his hand up and cupped my face in his hand before lowering his lips down onto mine. "Later."

"Later," I whispered. Edward turned and headed down the hallway in the opposite direction that my class was in. I looked over at Jasper who was leaning on his locker, looking less than thrilled with our little display of affection. "Get over it, Jas."

"Get over what," he muttered, rudely. "If you could feel what that…he wants to do to you, you would understand."

I slammed my locker shut and crossed the hallway in two long strides. "You know it wouldn't kill you to be happy for me. I've waited a long time to find someone who…loves me the way he does. Besides, you have Alice. I didn't make a big deal about of that, did I?"

"No," grumbled Jasper, shifting his eyes from the floor up to me. "I just worry about you."

"I know you do," I murmured, softly. "I just wish you were as happy that I've found my mate as I am that you've found yours but I guess that's too much to ask of my best friend."

I turned and headed down the hallway with Rose. Jasper called after me but I ignored him. I understood that this was difficult for him. Jasper and I had been traveling together for over a centaury. He was my best friend, my brother, my companion, and my protector to a point. He always felt this need to guard me, protect me from life and I let him because it made him feel needed and in control. But I didn't need it now. I knew in my unbeating heart that Edward would never hurt me. I trust him enough to give myself to him completely.

"You know, Bella," started Rose as we walked into our first classroom. "For what's it worth, I'm happy about you and Edward."

"You are?" I asked, taking the seat next to her.

"Yes, I am," smiled Rose. "Edward's been alone for a long time. We used to encourage him and Alice to get together but they told us it would be too weird. They were never more than siblings. Alice always told us that one day their soul mates would come and I think she was right. I think she was talking about you and Jasper."

"You think so?" I asked.

"Yes, I do," smirked Rose, leaning toward me. "Besides, if anyone needs to get laid, it would be Edward."

I stared at her, mouth agape, for several minutes while she just laughed under her breath. If I had been human, I'm sure my face would have been as red as a tomato. Mr. Mason came in and started his lesson. I turned from Rose, who was smirking, and pretended to focus on the lesson but it was all an act. I replayed the events of the early morning. How I had almost lost control and killed that pack of puppies to Edward holding me against the tree and kissing me. He wanted me for reason and I knew that I wanted him.

The bell rang ending our first period class and I stood up. Mike Newton looked back at me for a split second like he was thinking about speaking to me before he turned and hightailed it out of the room. I almost felt back for how I treated him on my first day. Maybe I haven't been around humans in my life. I don't know how to interact with them.

Rose and I headed out into the hall. She flittered off in one direction while I trotted off in the other. The rest of the morning was spent pretending to listen to one teacher after another bore me with information that I had learned years ago. I may not have been in school since I was human but I did my fair share of studying. Books had been my refuge many times during my three centauries. I found them peaceful and somewhat relaxing.

Finally after what felt like a hundred years, the bell rang for lunch. I grabbed my stuff and headed down the hall toward the cafeteria. Edward was waiting for me outside of the double doors that lead to the room full of human children. He swept me up into his tight embrace and crushed his lips to mine. He slipped his tongue in-between my lips and into my mouth. I moaned as I brought my hands up and wove them in his hair. Suddenly, Edward laughed and pulled away from me.

"Mr. Cullen, Miss Whitlock, we do not behave like that at school," scolded Mr. Mason, coming up behind us. I looked over my shoulder at him.

"Oh, can't get Mrs. Mason down here to make out with you," I said, regretfully. Edward snorted but tried to turn it into a cough. "That's too bad. Better luck next time."

"That's not what I meant," muttered Mr. Mason, turning bright red as the blood rushed to his face. "I meant that you and Mr. Cullen shouldn't be making out here in the middle of the hallway."

"Oh," I said, nodding my head. "Can we borrow your classroom then?"

"NO!" he yelled. "Just…get to lunch and stop this nonsense now."

Mr. Mason turned and stormed away. I could hear him muttering about me being a smart-assed little punk under his breath. All while Edward was laughing with his face buried in my hair, of course. I laughed as I pulled Edward into the cafeteria. Emmett, Rose, Alice, and Jasper were already sitting at the round table in the back corner of the room. Edward picked us up a tray of what he said was food but it didn't look very good to me. He led me to the back table and we took the two empty seats between Emmett and Jasper, me next to Jasper.

"Bella," whispered Jasper, grabbing my hand. I looked up at him. "I'm sorry I'm being such an ass."

"I'm sorry you are being such an ass, too," I said, smiling at him. "It's ok. This is new for all of us, right?"

"Right," said Jasper. He looked up at Edward.

"Don't worry about it, Jasper," said Edward. "And message received. Just know that it applies to Alice, too."

"I know," smiled Jasper. I rolled my eyes and looked over at Alice, who was nearly glowing with happiness.

"So," said Emmett, drawing he attention onto himself as we all looked over at him. "The puppies kind of got in your face, huh?"

"I really don't want to talk about it, Emmett," I said, firmly.

"Oh come on, Bella," boomed Emmett. "You went all ninja on them puppies!"

"Shut up, you ass," muttered Edward, placing his hand on my back.

"Sorry," said Emmett. "It's just…you really kicked their asses."

"I really don't want to talk about it," I muttered, clenching my jaw shut.

"Bella," grumbled Emmett. "Come on, I need some details."

"Like what?" I hissed, standing up and slamming my hands on the table. I heard the plastic crack under my hands. "Do you want me to tell you how it feels to have that kind of power in my hands? Or maybe how it feels to know that if I got pissed off enough that I could kill every fucking person in this room without even thinking twice about it?"

"Bella," muttered Emmett.

"You want to know how it feels?" I asked, gritting my teeth together. "When the power surges through my body, it feels fucking amazing until I crash and see the aftermath of my actions. The guilt weighs on me, crushing me all the time. It's fucking unbearable. What to know anything else?"

"No," mumbled Emmett.

"Good," I said, turning and walking away from the table.

"You fucking asshole," grumbled Edward. "Why couldn't you just drop it?"

I heard Emmett say that he was just curious as I pushed through the double doors leaving all of them behind me. I was about halfway down the hall when I felt Edward slip his arm around my waist. I didn't bother looking up at him. We made our way down to our biology classroom and settled at our table. I leaned over and laid my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes.

"He didn't mean anything," murmured Edward. "He's genuinely curious."

"I know that," I whispered. "I just don't like thinking about when I am like that, much less talking about it."

"I know, love," said Edward, turning his lips to the side of my head.

Edward and I sat in a peacefully silence until the humans started trickling into the classroom. The blond girl, Lauren something, and the curly haired girl, Jennifer or Jessica, both looked back over at me and Edward. I didn't need to be a mind reader to hear the thoughts running through their heads. I stared at them until they turned away from me and Edward, muttering to each other about it not being fair.

Mr. Banner came in and started his class. He was going on and on about the lifecycle of flatworms. Edward kept his arm wrapped around my waist. I sighed softly enough that he was the only one who heard it. I felt his lips curve up into a smile as he pressed them against the side of my head once again. I pulled my bottom lip in-between my razor sharp teeth as I threw my shield over the two of us.

"Edward," I thought. I felt him gasp next to me. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes," he murmured.

"Don't speak," I thought. "Just think it."

"How is this possible?" he asked.

"I put my shield over you so that we can speak without, well, talking," I explained, wordlessly. "I wanted to ask you something."

"What?" he asked.

"Are you happy?" I asked. Edward smiled as he looked down at me.

"Yes, love, I'm very happy," he thought. "I have the most beautiful woman next to me. Why wouldn't I be happy?"

"I don't know." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Are you happy?" he asked, thinking each word out carefully.

"I am, Edward," I thought. "It's just…"

"What?"

"It's just…different and new." I looked up at him. "It scares me sometimes."

"Me too." Edward pressed his lips to the side of my head. "But we will figure out everything together. That is one thing I do know."

"I hope so," I thought.

I pulled my shield back as the bell rang. Edward and I stood up and gathered our belongings. He slipped his hand into mine as we headed past the humans and out into the hall. Edward kissed me softly before I headed into the locker room to change. I quickly changed and headed down to the gym. Emmett was standing outside the door to the girls locker room with a sheepish, almost ashamed look on his face.

"Perving on the girls, Emmett," I teased. "Shame on you."

"So funny, Bella," sighed Emmett. He looked down at me. "I'm sorry. I've just…"

"What?" I asked. Emmett turned so that his body was facing me.

"I've never met someone as strong as you, as powerful as you are. I just…I don't know how you do it, I guess," said Emmett, just loud enough for me to hear.

"I don't like being like that, Emmett," I mumbled, crossing my arms in front of my chest. "It's terrifying to think about how easy it would be for me to kill every human in this school. It's not their blood that calls to me, either. No, it's the power that comes from being able to kill them all. It's intoxicating but the guilt is…I hope you never experience what it's like to know that you killed children, Emmett."

"Me either," he muttered, shifting his weight around. "I'm sorry. I…I'm an ass, I guess."

"It's fine," I said, smiling. "I'm a bitch."

"Yeah, you kind of are," snorted Emmett. From across the gym, we both heard Edward growl at the big buffoon. "Calm down, Eddie. She's the one who said it."

"It's Edward, not Eddie," snarled Edward. "Just cause she said it, doesn't mean you have to agree with her."

"Get a grip, Edward," I snorted as Emmett and moved across the gym and joined him. "I don't need you defending me anyway."

"Too fucking bad," said Edward, smiling coyly at me. "I'll defend you all I want and you can't do anything about it."

"Fuck, Eddie," laughed Emmett. "You really do have it bad."

"Edward, not Eddie," snapped Edward.

Coach Clapp came in and forced us to play basketball. It was even worse than Volleyball. I basically just stayed out of the way and ran up and down the court at human speed. It was annoying as hell and I heard both Emmett and Edward muttering under their breaths about how lame this all was. I had to agree with them both.

Finally, we were dismissed and I ran up to the locker room and quickly changed back into my clothes. Both Emmett and Edward were waiting outside of the doors for me and the three of us headed back down to the cars. A few minutes later, Alice, Rose, and Jasper came out. We climbed into the cars and headed back to the house and to my brother, who I knew was going to make me talk about what had happened with the wolves. I was dreading every minute of it.

**Thank you for all the review. Coming up next: The big talk.**


	13. Chapter 13

A few minutes later, Edward pulled his Volvo into the large cavernous garage that sat behind the house. Carlisle's Mercedes was gone. I wondered if that meant he was gone as well. I climbed out of the car and met Edward around the front. He slipped his hand in with mine and I felt better, almost relaxed. Almost.

I was terrified of what my brother would have to say to me now. Would he be pissed about what happened with the wolves? Would he blame me? Would he want me to leave in order to protect his family, his wife? It hurt to think about having to give him up when I just found him again. I tried to shake those thoughts out of my head as we headed into the house.

Esme was sitting on the couch, flipping through a magazine. She looked back at all of us and smiled. At least she did until her eyes landed on me. It wasn't very noticeable but her smile faltered a little. I may have been the only one who even noticed it.

"Where is everyone?" asked Alice, skipping into the house.

"Tanya, Irina, Garrett, and Kate went hunting while Eleazar and Carmen headed into Seattle for awhile. Carlisle got called into the hospital. Bad wreck on the highway," explained Esme, breaking her eyes off of me and looking Alice. "How was school?"

"Fabulously boring," sang Alice, heading up the stairs. "Come on, Jas. We have shopping to do."

"Coming, Ali," muttered Jasper, following her while the rest of us snickered under our breath. Someone was whipped and good.

"Bella, let's go for a run," said Esme, standing up and tossing her magazine on the table.

"Esme," sighed Edward.

"Calm down, Edward," scolded Esme. "I just want to talk to her."

"It's fine, Edward," I murmured. "I can't say I'm not surprised."

"Ok, I'll be in my room when you get back," he whispered.

"Ok," I smiled.

Edward leaned down and brushed his lips against mine before he ran up the stairs. Esme had a smile playing on her lips as she crossed the room and hooked her arm in with mine. I let her pull me out of the house. She let go of my arm and took off running into the trees. I took off running after her, following her as she led me where ever she was taking me.

We ran for several minutes before she stopped in a small clearing. It was incredibly beautiful, like something you would see in a fairy tale. There was a small stone cottage that almost looked like it had just sprang up through the ground. It was eerily familiar. Esme smiled and looked back at me.

"This is my favorite place to come," she said, softly. "When I come here, I almost feel like I can escape into a fairy tale or something."

"It's beautiful," I murmured. "Take away all the trees and it's not much different than the house that Carlisle and I grew up in."

"That's what he told me when we came across this place," laughed Esme. "We were out hunting a few months back when we tracked a group of elk up this way. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw this place. For several minutes he didn't say anything. I was starting to get very worried when he laughed. He said this was eerily familiar to his childhood home."

"They tore it down a few years back," I murmured, looking back at the cottage. "Our childhood home, that is. I had been going back there every year but when I went back three years ago, they had torn it down. The city records said that the structure had been deemed unsafe and an eyesore." I shook my head. "I thought it was the last tie I had to my life."

"It's not, though," said Esme. I looked over at her. "You have Carlisle now."

"Do I?" I asked. "Because it seems like all I've done since I've been here is mess things up, Esme."

"You haven't done anything, Bella," sighed Esme.

"Haven't I?" I asked, harshly. "I nearly killed those puppies last night and Eleazar has certainly made sure that my misdeeds have been known by all. I am a killer, Esme. I've killed hundreds of humans and dozens of vampires."

"So have I," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "With the exception of Carlisle, there is not a one of us who hasn't tasted human blood."

"It's not the same. I didn't kill them to feed," I said, shaking my head. "I lost control for a moment, a split second and let the power overtake me. I killed children, Esme."

"I lost a baby," she whispered, turning away from me. "My son, Joshua, was born early and barely lived a few days before he died. Do you know why he was born early?"

"No," I murmured. Esme turned and looked back at me.

"Because my husband beat me so bad that I went into labor early. I should have left him the first time he laid a hand on me but I didn't. I stayed and endured the abuse and it ended up costing me my son," said Esme. "I met Carlisle shortly after I found out I was pregnant. He was working in this small hospital in Columbus. My husband had broken my arm. Carlisle told me I needed to leave him, that he would kill me. I told him I had no were else to go. I saw him a few more times after that, I think I fell in love with him then. After Joshua died," continued Esme, "I was a mess. I went to the closest cliff I could find and I jumped. I wanted to die. Carlisle saved me."

"By changing you?" I asked.

"Yes and no," smiled Esme. "He kept me from dying by changing me but he saved my life by loving me, Bella."

"It wasn't your fault that your son passed away, Esme," I said, quietly.

"It isn't your fault that those people died, Bella," said Esme.

"Isn't it?" I asked, turning away from her. "I could hear them screaming. As they stood there and watched me destroy those wolves and vampires, I heard them screaming. Children begging their parents to tell them what was going on. Begging them hide." I closed my eyes as I heard them all again. "They shouldn't have died because of me."

"It wasn't because of you," said Carlisle. I snapped my eyes open and spun around. Carlisle was standing on the edge of the little clearing. "The brothers would have killed them anyway. They would never had allowed them to live, knowing what they saw."

"Does that make it better, brother?" I asked, sharply.

"I'm just going to…go," muttered Esme before turning and taking off running back through the woods. I looked away from him.

"They should never have even known that we existed," I said, quietly.

"But they did," murmured Carlisle.

"BUT THEY SHOULDN'T HAVE!" I yelled, spinning back around at him. "THEY WERE INNOCENT."

"Yes, they were," agreed Carlisle. "But you can't keep blaming yourself for what happened."

"Cause it's that easy, right?" I asked. "I've been living with this for a hundred years, brother. Tell me how to get rid of it. Because I'm tired of living everyday with their voices in my head. I'm tired of seeing the terrified faces of those children as I killed them. I don't want to be a monster."

"I wish I could have been there for you," he murmured, looking back at the cottage. "I should have been. I was supposed to walk you home that day but I got to talking to Harriet and I forgot about you. Father came rushing into the dress shop, screaming about you being taken. He said he found your basket laying on the ground next to a pile of ashes. I was too busy trying to woo Harriet to walk you home that day," he said, frowning. "If I had, then you wouldn't have had to be alone."

"If you had, he probably would have just killed you before he changed me," I muttered. Carlisle looked from the cottage and back to me.

"Maybe," he frowned. "But I would have died for you."

"I'm glad you didn't, brother," I said, softly. "Then I wouldn't be able to stand here with you, now would I?"

"I suppose you have a point," he said, smiling. His smile dropped off his face just as quickly as it sprang up. "Bella, what happened with the wolves?"

I turned and looked back at the cottage. I should have known we get to that. "I don't know what you want to know," I said.

"Everything," whispered Carlisle.

"I was running when I smelt them," I muttered, closing my eyes. "They smell quite disgusting. Worse than real werewolves do."

"What did they say to you?" asked Carlisle, placing his hands on my shoulders as he stood in front of me. I opened my eyes and looked up at my older brother.

"They said they had heard of me," I said, keeping my eyes locked on his. "They said they knew what I was going to do. I told them they didn't know what they were talking about. The head puppy, Sam, grabbed my face, Carlisle. He called me a bitch and told me not to get smart with him. I told him to get his fucking hand off of me and when he didn't, I broke his wrist. He called me a fucking cunt and sent his pups on me. I was defending myself."

"I'll handle this," growled Carlisle before he turned and took off running.

I rolled my eyes as I took off after him. I could have stopped him but I was curious at what he thought he could do about them. As much as I loved my brother, it wasn't like he could take them all on by himself. Then again, they were stupid and would probably make it really easy for him. I followed Carlisle through the woods until we reached a small ravine.

Sometime while we had been running, Carlisle had pulled out his cell phone. Within a few minutes, Edward, Emmett, Jasper, Garrett, and Eleazar were standing behind us. A moment later, Sam, Jacob, and two young men stepped out from behind the trees. All four of them looked from Carlisle to me.

"What do you want?" asked Sam, tightly.

"What do I want?" snorted Carlisle. "I want you fucking mutts to apologize to my sister."

"Why should we?" asked Jacob, cocking one of his eyebrows at him.

"I'm sorry," said one of the wolves in the back, causing Jacob, Sam, and the other puppy to look at him. "Don't look at me like that."

"Seth, they are the fucking enemy," growled Jacob.

"Maybe," said Seth, shrugging his shoulders. "But she didn't do anything to us. We should never had been there in the first place and I told you all that but as usual, you don't listen to me."

"You've heard the stories," grumbled Sam.

"Legends," snorted Seth. "You don't even know if she is the one the elders talk about."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" asked Emmett, throwing his hands up.

"We're talking about the prophecy," said Seth, calmly.

**Thank you for all the reviews. I know you are all confused but I promise to explain. Just have some trust in me. **


	14. Chapter 14

"Prophecy?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "What is this Harry Potter? Do we need to go to London and visit the Ministry of Magic?"

"No," snorted Seth. "And seriously, Harry Potter?"

"Hey, the books are really good," I said, defending myself. I heard Emmett, Jasper, Edward, Garrett, and Eleazar snort behind me but I chose to ignore them. What the hell did they know anyway?

"Can we get back on subject, please?" asked Carlisle, looking down at me. "We'll discuss your strange reading choices later."

"Ok, so there is a prophecy," I said, ignoring my brother. "What makes you think it is about me?"

"Do you know any other vampire that has the strength to kill us all?" asked Sam, harshly. I looked over at him. "The legend talks of the cold one who will destroy the world."

"Where did you get this 'legend' from?" asked Emmett, using air quotes before he folded his arms in front of his chest.

"From our elders," said Sam, matching Emmett's stance. "It's been passed down from one generation to another for as long as we can remember."

"What exactly is the prophecy?" asked Carlisle.

"The prophecy states that the day will come when the moon shall be covered by the blood of the innocent. The world will cease to exist and all the power of the cold one will be to blame," explained Sam.

"Cold one?" I asked.

"Bloodsuckers, leeches, vamps," muttered Sam. "Whatever you want to call yourselves."

"I call myself Bella," I said, firmly. "I would like to think you puppies could remember that much."

"We're not puppies," grumbled Jacob. "We are werewolves."

"No, you're not," I sighed, shaking my head. "You are a shape shifter. Real werewolves are much prettier than you dogs."

"Fucking bitch," he muttered.

"Hey, don't call her that again or I'll fucking kill you myself, you filthy mutt," snapped Edward.

"Enough bickering," growled Seth, looking between us all. "You all are acting like a bunch of little kids."

"How old are you?" I scoffed. "Twelve? Thirteen?"

"I'm sixteen," he muttered. "Look, the point is that you have the power to kill us all and we really don't want the world to end. We're kind of picky like that."

"I'm not going to end the world," I muttered. "The so called prophecy was not about me."

"Prove it," said Sam. I sighed and placed my hands on my hips. "The cold one from the prophecy has a mark. Prove that you don't have the mark and we can drop this shit right fucking now."

"What kind of mark?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"A birthmark shaped in the form of the crescent moon. It's said to be located on her shoulder," said Seth.

Carlisle and Jasper both snapped their heads over to me but I couldn't look at them. I kept my eyes locked on Sam. As his puppies looked from him to me, my brother was boring a hole in my head with his penetrating eyes.

"It's bullshit," I muttered, wrapping my arms around my body.

"You have the mark, don't you?" asked Seth. I looked back over at him. His eyes were wide with a mixture of joy and excitement. "You do, don't you?"

"You don't know what the fuck you are talking about," I muttered, harshly. "I'm not that person." Seth scoffed. "I'm not."

"Yes, you are," smirked Jacob.

"NO, I'M NOT!" I roared. Everyone but Edward, Carlisle, and Jasper took a step backwards. I stumbled back a couple of steps. "I'm not going to destroy the world. Not now, not ever."

I turned and took off running through the woods again, leaving them all standing there watching me leave. Leaving them with their fear, their accusations. I was getting sick and fucking tired of everyone branding me as the killer of the world. I kept running until I reached the house. I threw the front door open, slamming it against the wall. The house echoed with the resounding crack as the door broke through the wall.

"What the hell?" snapped Rose, jumping to her feet. She was sitting in the living room with Alice, Esme, Tanya, Kate, and Irina. "What the fuck is going on?"

"I'm not going to do it," I muttered mostly to myself as I headed up the stairs. Rose came around and grabbed my arm, pulling me to a stop. She spun me around so that I was facing her.

"Bella, stop," she ordered. I pushed her off of me.

"I AM NOT ENDING THE FUCKING WORLD!" I screamed. The windows shook and everyone turned to me. "They are liars, Rosalie. I don't…I'm not…"

I couldn't get my thoughts in order. I turned and ran up the stairs to my bedroom, slamming the door behind me. I fell to my knees and sobbed, tearlessly as I crawled through the room and over to the mirror that stood in the corner. I ripped the top of my shirt down and turned my back onto it. There on my left shoulder was the birthmark I had had since I was human. The birthmark of a crescent moon.

"Where is she?" asked Carlisle.

"Upstairs," muttered Esme. "You know, I'm getting a little sick and tired of every time that girl goes out with one of you, she comes back upset. Maybe you need to-"

I threw my shield out and blocked Esme as she continued to rant about them taking better care of me. The door to my room opened and Edward came in. He shut the door behind him and slid down onto the floor. I extended my shield over him, giving us some privacy. For several moments, we just sat there and stared at each other.

"Do you have the mark?" he thought. I looked away as I nodded my head. "Look at me."

I looked back at him. "Yes, I have the mark. I told you I was a killer," I thought. "Are you ready to run yet?"

"You're not," he insisted, silently. "And I will never run from you."

"I am," I whispered.

"No, you're not a killer," he murmured. His voice washed over me and I looked away again. "Look at me."

"What?" I asked, looking back at him. "What do you want, Edward?"

"You," he thought. "Only you."

"I want you, too," I mused. "But I shouldn't."

"Why?" he asked.

"Because I don't deserve you," I muttered, harshly.

"You're wrong," he murmured.

"How?" I asked.

"It's me that doesn't deserve you," he smiled, crawling across the room to me. "See, I would have destroyed Jasper without even thinking twice about it. I probably would have let the brothers keep their pets in Africa but not you. You try to do the right thing."

"But I don't," I whispered as Edward pulled me onto his lap. I wrapped my legs around his waist, locking them behind his back. "Every time I try to make a stand, I just end up hurting innocent people."

"Not you," he murmured, pressing his lips down onto my bare shoulder.

Edward moved his lips across my granite skin to my neck. He made his way up to my ear where he sucked my earlobe in between his lips. His hands had slid around to my ass, kneading me with his skillful hands. I moaned as I slid my hand into his hair, weaving my fingers into his fatherly locks.

"Don't run from me, Edward," I thought.

"Never," he reflected back. "I can't exist without you, Bella. You're my everything."

"Edward," I said, breathlessly.

Edward and I sat on the floor of my room, holding onto each other. Keeping our bodies connected anyway we could. My shield was wrapped tightly around the two of us. Almost like it was binding us together. Keeping everyone else out of his head, at least for a moment. It was moments like this that I almost felt human again.

I closed my eyes and imagined what it would feel like to feel his heart beating through his chest. Would he be able to feel mine? Would our breathing be heavy pants or breathless gasps? Would we sleep with our arms wrapped around each other, holding each other tightly, loving each other?

"Yes," murmured Edward, pressing his lips to the side of my neck. "If we were human, I would hold you every night while we slept."

"Would we dream?" I whispered, nestling my head into the crook of his neck.

"Oh, yes," he whispered. "We'd have all sorts of naughty dreams of each other."

"Tell me," I sighed, dreamily. "Tell me what you would have dreamt about me."

"I would have dreamt about touching you." Edward's hands slowly slid up my back, under my shirt.

"Where?" I asked, sitting up.

"Here," whispered Edward, pulling my shirt off. He kept his eyes locked on mine as he placed his hands on my breasts. "I would have touched you here."

"Do it," I whimpered. I reached behind me and pulled my bra off and dropped it onto the floor.

"Bella," murmured Edward, dropping his gaze down to my breasts.

"Show me, Edward," I begged. "Touch me."

Edward laid me back on the plush carpet and moved so that he was hovering over me. For a moment he just looked at me. Then he leaned down and captured my lips with his. He moved his lips down my neck to my collarbone, nipping and sucking on my pale skin. He slowly made his way down to my breasts. He looked up at me as he lowered his ruby red lips down and wrapped them around my nipple.

"EDWARD," I cried, arching my back. His lips felt amazing on me.

"Oh, God, Bella," he moaned. "You have no idea what I want to do to you."

"Tell me," I gasped.

"It's not gentlemanly," he muttered, moving from one nipple to the other. I could feel his hardened manhood pressing into my thigh, even through two layers of denim.

"Fuck being a gentlemen," I growled. "Tell me."

Edward pulled his lips off my nipple and leaned forward, pressing every inch of his arousal against my heated core. "I want to rip the rest of your clothes off and fuck the shit out of you. Then I want to take you to our meadow and fuck you against our tree. I want to feel your pussy wrapped around my cock. I want to feel you clenching down as I make you cum so hard that you scream out my name."

"Fuck, Edward," I moaned, wrapping my legs around his waist as he continued to grind his cock into me. I could already feel myself ready to come undone just by the words that he spoke. "I want that, too."

"Bella," growled Edward, gritting his teeth together. He had one had under my back, lifting my ass to meet his dry humps and one up by my hair, fisting my dark locks in his hand. "You don't know how tempted I am to fuck here and now."

"Why aren't you?" I begged, nearly pleading with him to take me.

Edward stopped his grinding and looked down at me. He smiled as he brought his hand up to my face, "Because I love you too much to take you on the floor."

"That just might be the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me," I murmured, letting my smile creep up on my face. "I love you, too."

"You love me?" he asked, smiling a breathtakingly gorgeous smile. "I mean, you finally realize that you love me?"

"Yes," I whispered.

Edward crushed his lips down onto mine, sliding his tongue into my mouth. I growled and wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling his manhood down onto me once more. Edward snarled into my mouth as he came in to contact with my center. Our lips moved against each other's frantically, just as our bodies were.

There was a feeling deep inside of my gut, winding tight and desperately seeking to be let go. Edward pulled his lips from mine only to move them down to my neck and even further down to my collar bone, all while he was grinding himself against me. I fisted his hair in my hands as I felt the band snap.

"EDWARD," I screamed, arching my entire body into him. My shield exploded out of me, slapping against the walls and slamming back into the two of us.

"Oh, Bella," growled Edward, gripping my ass in his hands as he slammed against me over and over. He stilled his hips and he shuddered. "YES!"

"GET THE FUCK OFF MY SISTER!"

**Can we say awkward? Ok, so this chapter was a real son of a bitch to write. I really struggled with the first part and just picked at in between some of the others I have been working on. I would really appreciate some reviews letting me know what you thought. **


	15. Chapter 15

"GET THE FUCK OFF MY SISTER!" roared Carlisle, throwing the door to my bedroom open. He looked down at the two of us, me half naked and Edward trying to cover me up, and fucking scowled as he walked out of the room. "My fucking eyes. I'm never going to get that out of my head now."

Edward looked down at me with an amused smile on his face. I couldn't help but laugh with him. That's what he gets for being such a pain in the ass and barging into my room. I was going to have to have another big discussion with my brother. This shit was getting old and fast. Edward stood up, shut the door, and pulled me to my feet. He leaned down and kissed me once more.

"Shower with me?" he asked.

"Sure," I murmured. "I'm suddenly feeling so…dirty."

"That you are," he growled, playfully.

I squealed as Edward lifted me over his shoulder and carried me into the bathroom. He put me back on my feet and turned on the water in the shower. We kept our eyes locked on each other's as we slowly stripped off the remainder is our clothing. Once we were both naked, we stepped into the shower together.

I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth as I looked down at Edward's manhood. He was quite large and thick. He was rock hard again. I looked up at him as I reached out and wrapped my hand around him.

"Fuck," he hissed, closing his eyes.

"Look at me," I murmured. Edward snapped his butterscotch eyes open and found my own. "Does it feel good?"

"Yes," he moaned, placing his hand on the wall behind me.

"Tell me," I whispered.

"You hand feels like silk," he groaned, shifting his hips toward me as I stroked him slowly. "Fuck, baby, harder. Faster, please."

"Tell me, Edward," I purred, increasing my strokes. "Has anyone ever touched you like this?"

"No," he murmured. "Never."

"Hmm."

I leaned up and kissed him once before I dropped to my knees in front of him. Looking back up at Edward, I snaked my tongue out and wrapped it around the head of his thick cock. Edward hissed and slammed his hand on the wall, cracking the tiles.

"Bella," he growled. "Fuck."

"You taste so good," I murmured, licking the tip of his cock.

I opened my mouth and took him in. Edward growled again and brought his other hand to the back of my head, weaving his fingers in my hair. I slowly pulled him out of my mouth and took him back in. Edward was muttering a series of four letter words under his breath. It was such a turn on hearing him talk dirty. As I took Edward in and out of my mouth, I could feel my own arousal starting to build again. I slipped my fingers down between my legs and started rubbing my clit.

"Oh, fuck, that's hot," he growled.

I looked up at him through my lashes. His eyes were locked on my fingers as I played with myself. I relaxed my throat and took more of him in as I slipped two fingers inside of me. Edward's cock twitched in my mouth and a moment later, he released his cum down my throat. I lapped up every drop, savoring the flavor.

Edward pulled me off my knees and slammed me into the wall. He dropped to his knees, lifted one of my legs over his shoulder, and buried his face in between my legs. I cried out as his tongue penetrated my sensitive lips. I had never felt something nearly as wonderful as having him nestled down there.

Edward gripped my other leg and pulled it up over his shoulder. His hands were resting on my ass, holding me up against the wall as he devoured me. He was frantic, like a man who had been told that I was his last meal and he was determined to make sure he got every bite he could. I could feel my release building. My body was shaking but I wasn't scared. This was different than when I lost control. This was a splendid feeling that I never wanted to let go of.

"Edward," I cried, slamming my hands onto the wall behind me. I could feel the tiles crumble under my hands but I didn't care at this moment. "I'm so close."

Edward didn't say anything as he pulled his head back and sucked my swollen clit into his mouth. I moved one of my hands down to his hair, gripping it tightly in between my fingers. Edward bit down on my clit and I was done for. My body shook and I screamed as the coil inside of me, snapped and I came hard.

"FUCK!" I screamed.

Edward lapped up every drop of what I gave him and stood back up. He crushed his lips to mine and I could taste myself on his lips. For several minutes, we just stood there under the water and let our mouths move over each other's. Just enjoying the feeling of having someone in our arms. If I had been a human, I might have been crying at just how peaceful I felt in this moment.

Edward and I finished our shower and dried off. He went to his room to get dressed while I got dressed in mine. I could feel the goofy, lovesick smile plastered on my face. I was sure that I looked silly but I didn't care. I had been looking for Edward for hundreds of years.

"Wow," said Edward. I looked back and saw him standing in the doorway wearing a pair of jeans and a white button up shirt. He looked incredible. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you," I said, smiling as I looked down at my own jeans and blue sweater. "You look great too."

"Thanks," snorted Edward. He crossed the room and wrapped his arms around me. "Are you ready to head downstairs? The others are getting irritated."

"They'll survive," I laughed. I closed my eyes as I leaned up and pressed my lips to his. "This feels so right."

"What does?" he whispered. I opened my eyes as I smiled.

"Your arms around me," I murmured.

"That it does," he whispered, pressing his lips down on mine again. "I love you."

"I love you, too," I said, smiling. "Now, let's go downstairs so I can kick my brother's ass."

Edward laughed loudly and slipped his hand in with mine. We made our way downstairs to the living room where we found everyone waiting. While Emmett, Rose, Alice, Esme, Garret, Kate, Carmen, Irina, Tanya, and Eleazar were just lounging around on the couches, looking like it was just any other day. Carlisle and Jasper were pacing back and forth.

The two of them stopped their movements and looked up at the two of us. Carlisle glared at Edward while Jasper sighed in relief. I rolled my eyes at my older brother as Jasper crossed the room and sat down next to Alice, who smiled and laid her head on his shoulder. At least one of them had come to the understanding that I am in fact an adult who can take care of myself.

"Isabella-"

"Carlisle, don't," I said, interrupting him. "It's time that you get over this overbearing older brother kick and grow the hell up."

"No," he muttered, folding his arms in front of his chest. "I don't want to."

"Carlisle," I sighed, shaking my head. "You told me that you weren't going to stand in our way."

"No, I told you that you could do worse than Edward," said Carlisle, smirking.

"Gee, thanks, Carlisle," muttered Edward, dryly.

"I didn't mean that as a bad thing, Edward," sighed Carlisle. "I just don't want to hear…that anymore."

"You couldn't hear what we were doing cause I had my shield over us," I scoffed. "You were being nosy."

"B, while you were in the middle of…you know, your shield kind of exploded and shook the house," said Jasper. I looked over at him with wide eyes. "We heard everything."

"Fuck my life," I muttered.

"Sounded like a nice shower, too," smirked Rose. Everyone but Carlisle laughed with her. He just muttered under his breath and plopped down onto the sofa next to Esme, who tried her hardest to stop laughing. She was unable to, though.

"Yeah, seemed like Eddie really liked it," snickered Emmett.

"Enough," growled Carlisle, shaking his head. "God, I'm never going to get this out of my head."

"Welcome to my world, Carlisle," smirked Edward, pulling me over to one of the couches. We sat down next to Garrett and Kate, who tensed us. I looked over at them.

"I'm not going to hurt you," I said, sadly.

"We know," they muttered but I could tell that neither of them believed that. I shook my head as I looked away.

Just like that the mood switched from playful and relaxed to tense and stressful. I laid my head on Edward's shoulder and closed my eyes. This was what I was afraid of the most when I found my brother. I was going to lose them all because they were scared of me and what I could do if I got mad enough. I hated having all that power.

"Wow," muttered Tanya. I opened my eyes and looked over at her. "It got very awkward in here."

I wasn't sure what to say to her so I looked away. Edward reached down and intertwined our fingers together. I laid my head back on his shoulder and took a deep breath before I said, "I don't know what I am supposed to say. Everyone keeps branding me as the killer of the world as we know it. I don't want to be that person."

"You're not," said Esme, smiling as she looked over at me. "Bella, you are powerful but that doesn't mean that you are going to end the world. This so called prophecy those dogs were talking about is nothing more than a legend, an urban legend to scare the children into behaving."

"I have the mark," I muttered, darkly as I looked down at mine and Edward's hands.

"What?" she asked.

"I have a birthmark of the crescent moon on my left shoulder," I explained. I looked around at everyone.

"That doesn't mean anything," said Rose. I shook my head and looked back down. "Bella, it doesn't mean anything."

"Yes, it does," I said, forcefully as I pulled my hand out of Edward's and stood up. I moved to the back of the sofa. "Goddamn it, Rose, I don't want to be like this."

"Then don't be," she said, standing up. She came over to me and placed her hands on my shoulder. "Nobody can force you to be anything, Bella. You are the one in control and with all the power."

"What if I'm not in control?" I asked, looking up at her. "You've seen what happens when my control slips just a smidge. I don't want to kill all of you. I've grown kind of attached to you."

"We won't let you," she said, smiling. "Besides, I might your help with dealing with Emmett. I know you can kick his ass."

I started laughing and shaking my head at her while Emmett grumbled about us picking on him. Rose laughed as she climbed into his lap and kissed him. I took my seat next to Edward and laid my head back on his shoulder. Even though I was still scared that I would end up losing everyone, I realized that, at least for now, I had a family. Maybe, just maybe, I wouldn't kill them all. Prophecies be damned.

**Thank you for all the reviews. Keep them coming!**


	16. Chapter 16

"God, will you two please stop!" sighed Carlisle, walking into the house. I laughed as I pulled my lips away from Edward's and looked over at my darling brother.

"No," I said. "We talked about this, Carlisle."

"I told you that I didn't want to see you snogging all over the place," he grumbled.

"I told you to suck it up and deal with the fact that Edward and I are together," I said, firmly as I stood up. "This shit is getting old. Since when do you use the word snogging, anyway?"

"Since now," he muttered, storming up the stairs to his and Esme's room.

I rolled my eyes at him as I looked down at my auburn haired vampire. He was laughing silently. No doubt to the many threats that Carlisle had been plying onto him over the last two weeks. Silly man needed to get over his irritation with my mate before I really got pissed off. I reached down and grabbed Edward's hands, pulling him to his feet.

"Let's run," I smiled.

"Ok," he said, letting his eyes rake over my body. "Let's go, love."

My body shivered and I wasn't sure it was because the way he looked at me or the fact that he called me love. Either way, I didn't really care. I smirked as I turned and ran out of the house. I heard Edward growl as he chased after me. This had been part of our ritual since we started running together. Some people might call it foreplay and they would be right.

It's been two weeks since the puppies shared their prophecies with us. I was desperately trying to convince myself that I wasn't the monster that everyone seemed to want to paint me out to be but it was hard. When you know that you are capable of killing everyone, it's hard not to feel like a freak amongst freaks.

"Gotcha," laughed Edward, tackling me to the ground. I threw him off of me and sprang up to my feet.

"Sorry, love, but you don't have me yet," I smirked, taking off again.

"Yet," he growled, chasing me.

I laughed as I ran harder and faster. My hair was flying behind me and I felt so free. I was almost in the meadow when I felt Edward wrap his arms around me again, pulling me to ground. I laughed again as I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist, pulling his body down onto mine.

"Now that you have me, what are you going to do with me?" I asked, batting my lashes at him.

Edward smiled as he looked down at me and said, "Love you forever."

"So cheesy," I laughed, rolling so that I was straddling him.

"Cheesy?" he asked, pouting. "I was being sincere."

"I know," I smiled. "But I was thinking maybe something a little naughtier."

"Bella," growled Edward, rolling us so that I was once again under him. He leaned down and brought his lips down onto my neck, nipping at my skin. "You are truly an mistress of seduction, aren't you?"

"Mistress, huh?" I asked, biting my bottom lip. "Does that make you my slave?"

"Forever," murmured Edward.

"You would do whatever I told you to do?" I asked.

"Yes, Mistress," smirked Edward.

"Well, in that case…." I trailed off as I ran my hands down his chest. I felt Edward shiver at my touch, causing me to smirk inwardly. I gripped his shirt in my hands, letting my smirk play on my lips. I looked him in the eye as I pushed him off of me while jumping to my feet. "Catch me."

I took off running again, laughing as Edward growled once again. That growl was going to be the end of me. He had no idea how much it turned me on. I kept running until I reached a cliff. I slid to a stop and stepped up to the edge, looking down at the water slapped against the side of the mountain. I heard Edward skid to a stop behind me. I turned and looked at him.

He was staring at me with hungry eyes. Lust was rolling off of him in waves. I pulled my lip between my razor sharp teeth as I reached down and gripped the hem of my t-shirt, slipping it over my head. I let it drop to the ground and Edward's eyes dropped to my breasts. I moved my hands down to the button of my jeans and popped it. Edward snarled as he ripped his shirt to shreds to get it off.

I smiled as I pulled the zipper down slowly, dragging it down as slowly as I could. Sliding my hands inside my jeans, I shimmed them down my legs and kicked them away. Edward tore his jeans off, tossing them into the brush. For a moment we just stared at each other as we stood there in our underwear. I could see his manhood, pressing against the dark grey boxer briefs he wore.

I bought my hands up and ran them over my bare breasts, letting my nipples tighten under my fingers. Edward's hands were clenched tightly as they hung down by his side. Even though he didn't need to breath, he was panting heavily. I kept one hand on my breast as I slid the other hand down my flat stomach to the top of my panties. Edward's eyes dropped to my hands and he licked his lips.

"Bella," he simpered.

I didn't say anything as I slipped my hands inside the pale green panties I was wearing, cupping my wet sex. Edward sprang at me, sending us flying over the ledge of the cliff. He crushed his lips onto mine as we hit the water. As we sank into the water, Edward ripped my panties off of me and slammed his fingers into my core.

He broke his lips from mine just to move them to my neck, nipping at my skin once again. He was thrusting his fingers in and out of me, fast and hard. I ripped his boxers off of him and gripped his cock in my hands as we slipped further down into the water. I started stoking him, matching his pace. Edward pulled back and locked his eyes onto mine as we moved our hands together.

I could feel my release building, growing rapidly inside of me. Moving my legs up to his waist, I clutched onto his body and let him fuck me with his fingers while keeping my hand on his cock. Edward slid his other hand around to my ass, pulling me closer to him. His fingers sunk into me deeper, hitting the most delicious spot and I was done for. I arched my back as I came hard, clenching around his fingers.

Edward pushed his hips into my hand a few more times before he shuddered and found his own release. He kissed me as he kicked his legs and pulled our bodies up to the surface of the water. We broke through and started laughing.

"Oh, Bella, you are full of amazing surprises," said Edward, smiling.

"I wasn't the one who took us cliff diving, my love," I laughed, wrapping my arms around his neck. "But that was pretty amazing."

"That would be an understatement," he snorted, leaning in and pecking my on the lips. "I only have one question, though."

"What's that?" I asked.

"How are we going to get back up there to get our clothes?" he asked, completely amused.

"Hmm," I said, looking at the cliff. "I don't know but it'll be fun."

In the end, Edward and I just ended up jumping from one of the rocks until we reached the top of the cliff. We pulled on our clothes and headed back to the house. Edward was only wearing his pants, seeing at he ripped his shirt to shreds. When we walked into the house, everyone looked over at us and laughed. We were still dripping wet.

"Um, why are you so wet" asked Jasper. He flared his nostrils. "And why do you smell like salt water?"

"We went swimming," I said smiling at my friend.

Edward and I ignored their laughter as we headed upstairs to get cleaned up. They can laugh all they want; we had just had the most fun with our impromptu swim.

)&(

"Do you have ADHD?" I asked, looking over at Emmett. Before he could answer, I looked over at Carlisle, who looked amused. "Can vampires have ADHD?"

"No," he laughed.

"Hmm," I said, looking back at Emmett. "Do you think before you speak?"

"Yes," he scoffed. I raised an eyebrow at him as the rest of the family snorted. "I do! I just didn't this time."

"Ok, Emmett, I'll give you that," I laughed.

We were sitting in the living room. It was around three in the morning and we were playing a game of Halo when Emmett stops, looks over at me, and asked me if I had ever been to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Talk about completely random and out of the blue.

"So have you?" he asked.

"Yes," I said, "but only for a short time back in the early seventeen hundreds and there wasn't a town yet. I hunted through there for a bit. Why?"

"That's where I lived before I was changed," said Emmett, shrugging his shoulders as he turned back to the game. "I was just curious about if you had been there."

"It was well before your time, Emmett," I said, patting him on the arm.

Emmett didn't say anything else as he focused on the game. I set my controller down and headed outside to the porch. The rain had started falling heavier and I could hear each drop as it fell, plopping onto the ground. I was resisting the urge to run once again but the push was so intense that I wasn't sure I would be able to.

Eleazar had been working with me on trying to control my urges, so to speak. He thought that with practice that I could learn to control my powers. Of course, nobody was willing to let me practice on them, except for Edward. However, I refused to let him. I couldn't have handled it if I had hurt him. The Denali Clan had taken off for a few days to hunt together. They weren't used to being around so many people and wanted to bond together, as Carmen explained to me.

"What are you doing out here?" asked Carlisle, stepping up next to me.

"I don't know," I murmured. I looked up at him. He was smiling as he looked out at the rain. "You know what this reminds me of?"

"What?" he asked, looking down at me.

"That time you, me, father, and mother played in the rain," I said, closing my eyes. I could almost remember what she looked like. "It was before she got sick, remember?"

"Barely," sighed Carlisle. "Do you think about them a lot?"

"Stop cheating, Jasper," yelled Emmett from inside the house.

"I'm not cheating," laughed Jasper. "I'm just good."

"No," I said, answering Carlisle's question as I opened my eyes. "The rain just reminds me of them."

"Me too," murmured Carlisle, slipping his arm around my waist.

A few hours later, Carlisle left for work and the rest of us 'kids', as he keeps calling us, left for school. As the day wore on, the restless feeling deep inside of me built slowly. I had always dealt with this feeling of restlessness but it had never been intense before, ever, and I wasn't sure how to deal with it.

"You're scaring me a bit, love," murmured Edward, slipping his arm around my waist as we sat with the others in the cafeteria.

"I know," I muttered, closing my eyes. I could feel the pricks as Jasper once again tried to calm me down. He never gave up on me. "I'm ok, Jas."

"No, you're not," he whispered. "It's getting worse."

By the time the final bell rang, I was nearly frantic with the need to run. I left my bag with Jasper and took off through the woods with Edward chasing me, like he always was. But no matter how hard I ran, how hard I pushed myself, I couldn't rid myself of the feeling. After several hours, and a handful of deer's, Edward and I made our way back to the house, feeling just as restless as I had when I left school, if not more.

The moment we walked through the door, two things happened. Alice screamed as she clutched her head and fell to her knees and I followed as I was over come by such an intense surge of power that it literally knocked me on my knees.

"ALICE!" yelled Jasper, falling to her side. "Baby, what's wrong?"

"TOO MUCH!" she screamed, wailing as she crawled at her head.

I threw my shield over Alice, hoping to help her. Instead of helping her though, my mind was bombarded with images that flashed through my head at an alarmingly fast rate. Dark cloaks, blood everywhere, and me in the middle of a battle field with everyone I loved laying at my feet, dead.

"No," I cried, dropping my head onto the floor.

"Bella," whispered Edward, placing his hands on my shoulders. "Talk to me, love,"

I looked up at him as I gasped for unneeded air and said, "It's too late. I've killed you all. They're coming."

Just as everyone in the room gasped, everything went back and I found myself lost in the darkness.

**So…yeah, I'm going to go work on the next chapter. Thank you for all the reviews.**


	17. Chapter 17

_Darkness floated around me, swallowing me and pulling me deeper into the miserable abyss that I was lost in. Just when I thought I was completely lost, I was hit by a flurry of images. They hit me, slamming me to the ground with so much force that I felt like my body was going to be ripped into two pieces._

"_Do not do this, brother," came the dry voice of Marcus Volturi. _

_I snapped my head up from the ground and looked around. I was laying in the middle of a large room made of dark stone. It was light, yet dark and ominous at the same time. The brothers, all three of them, were standing in front of their thrones, while the rest of their guard was lined up behind them. It looked like they were ready for battle. Marcus, a dark haired man, was standing before Aro, who also had dark hair but was much more baleful than his brother was, with his arms folded across his chest._

"_You will kill us all if you do not give up this notion that Isabella will ever be a part of our guard," said Marcus. Aro pursed his lips together as he looked from Marcus over to Caius, a blond man with sharp, pointed features._

"_What is your opinion on the matter, brother?" asked Aro. His voice was smooth yet, at the same time, sinister. _

"_I think you are not going to listen to any of us," said Caius, rolling his red eyes. "We should have killed the girl when we had the chance but you, my brother, hold onto some dream that she is going assist you. She is not. She has proven that she is nothing but a danger to the rest of us."_

"_You know as well as I do, brother, that we cannot kill her," sighed Aro, shaking his head. "I am disappointed in you both. I never thought the day would come when my own brothers would betray me."_

"_We have not betrayed you," growled Marcus, showing more emotion than he ever had. "We simply do not wish to die over your foolish quest."_

"_My foolish quest," hissed Aro, grabbing Marcus and slamming him into ground._

_Caius moved to help his fallen brother when Aro's guard seized him, pulling him back away from the two. Aro shook his head as he placed his hand on Marcus' cheek. He inhaled deeply at whatever he was seeing. When Aro opened his eyes, they were full of nothing but pure disgust and hatred. _

"_My dear brother, how could you throw your own kind away like this," sighed Aro, shaking his head once again. "After everything that I have given you."_

"_You have given me nothing," snarled Marcus, from his position on the floor. "All you have done, Aro, is take. You took my Didyme from me because you were scared that I would leave you and now you think you can just take that girl. She will kill us all before you even have a chance to blink."_

"_Not all of us, dear brother," smiled Aro, gripping Marcus' head in his hands._

_Aro tore Marcus' head off, tossing to the side before he ripped his arms and legs off. He threw them over with his head and went over to the wall. He lifted up a torch that was shimmering as it burned and set fire to his brother's body._

"_HOW COULD YOU?" snarled Caius, fighting against those who were holding him. Aro laughed as he looked back at his only remaining brother. "HE WAS OUR BROTHER!"_

"_If you aren't with me, then you are against me, Caius," said Aro._

_He motioned to the vampires who were holding onto Caius. They ripped him apart and added his body to the raging inferno that burning in the middle of the room. Aro moved back over to his throne and sat down. He had a triumphant smirk playing on his lips as he looked around at his faithful guard._

"_Soon, my children," he said, smugly. "Soon, she will be with us."_

"BELLA!" yelled Edward.

"OPEN HER MOUTH!" shouted Jasper.

I felt Edward pry my jaw apart and hold it open. A moment later, I felt the warm liquid of animal blood being poured into my mouth. My throat closed, fighting the blood that wanted to be pulled down into my stomach. The liquid bubbled out, falling down my face and into my hair.

"DRINK, ISABELLA" yelled Jasper, shoving his fingers down my throat and forcing the liquid down.

I reached up and pulled his hand out of my mouth as I sprang up to my feet. I crouched down, prepared to fight as I took in the room before me. I wasn't in Aro's lair anymore but back in living of the house I shared with everyone. Alice was sitting on the couch, rocking back and forth. Esme and Rose were sitting on either side of her but their eyes were trained on me.

Emmett was knelt down in front of Alice, holding her hands in his. I could hear him whispering to her that everything was going to be ok. Garret, Kate, Tanya, Irina, Eleazar and Carmen were standing behind the couch, watching me with accusing eyes. I saw movement to my left and snapped my head over as I growled.

"Bella, it's ok," said Carlisle, putting his hands up as he moved towards me.

"Carlisle, stop," ordered Jasper. Carlisle stopped moving. "Look at me, Isabella."

I snapped my head over to him and growled. He dropped down into his own fighting stance. He moved closer to me as he said, "You are ok."

"No," I muttered, shaking my head. "They are coming for me. They are already on their way here."

"I know," said Jasper, sending waves of calm at me.

"STOP CALMING ME DOWN!" I screamed. The windows shook.

"STOP IT NOW!" roared Jasper, springing at me. He pinned me to the ground. "STOP IT, ISABELLA!"

I raised my leg and kicked him off of me, sending him flying toward the couches. Emmett, Alice, Esme, Rose, and the Denali's ducked as he flew over their head and slammed into the wall. As he slid down, you could see the crack splintering up to the ceiling. I snarled as he jumped back up to his feet and came back at me.

Jasper rolled us outside, down the front steps, and into the mud, letting the rain fall down on us. I threw him off of me again, sending him into the closest tree. The tree groaned as it fall, smacking into the ground with a loud bang. Jasper once again jumped to his feet and came at me. He grabbed my arms and threw me into the ground, causing me to slide back several feet. He was on me immediately, pinning me to the ground.

"STOP IT, ISABELLA," he shouted, slamming with waves and waves of calm. "STOP IT!"

"JASPER!" I screamed, arching my back.

I fell back into the ground, shaking as I flailed under him. My muscles were rigid and tense. My hands were grabbing at the ground so hard that had I been human, I would have broken my fingers. Slowly, however, my body stopped shaking and my muscles relaxed. My fingers fell limp and I stopped fighting against him, all while the rain poured down on us.

"Jas," I mumbled, weakly. My eyes rolled back into my head.

"I know," he whispered. He looked back and said, "Edward, help me with her. She needs to hunt."

I didn't hear Edward's reply but a moment later, I felt him lifting me into his arms. I ducked my head into his chest, closing my eyes as he took off after Jasper. My hair whipped behind me as we took off through the trees. I'm not sure how long we had been running when Edward stopped.

"Here," said Jasper. I looked over at him. He was holding a large elk. Edward carried me over and laid me on the ground. Jasper lowered elk down onto my lips. "Feed, Bella. You have to feed."

"What's going on?" asked Edward.

"She's coming down," muttered Jasper.

I sank my teeth into the dead animals neck, cutting through the fur and muscles. I drank greedily, draining it as quickly as I could. Jasper tossed the dead carcass aside and ran off. Edward sat down on the ground and pulled me back into his lap. He brought his hand up and stroked my cheek. I brought mine up and grabbed onto his.

"Here," said Jasper, again. I looked over as he brought me another animal. I quickly drained that one, too.

"How many more?" asked Edward.

"At least two or three," muttered Jasper, taking off again.

I laid there in Edward's arms, letting him hold me while Jasper kept bringing more animals. In the end, Jasper ended up bringing me a total of six deer and elks. I drained them all, slowly regaining some of my strength. Although, I still felt weak and lightheaded, which considering I was a vampire, that was an odd feeling to me. Jasper tossed the last of the deer to the side and brought his hand to my face.

"Better now, B?" he asked.

"Yeah," I muttered, trying to sit up. Edward tightened his arms around me and I looked up at him. "Edward, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" he asked, pleading with me.

"Yes," I said. I could tell he was reluctant but he let me up. I sat down next to him and stretched. "Jesus, Jasper, I'm fucking sore as hell."

"Sorry," he snorted, settling down next to me. "You didn't exactly make it easy on me, Bella."

"What the hell happened back there?" asked Edward. I studied him for a minute.

"I'm not entirely sure," I answered, honestly. I pulled my knees up to my chest. "I've never experienced that before."

"Tell us what happened," urged Jasper. I looked away as I closed my eyes. "Bella."

"I don't know what happened," I said. "I was trying to help Alice. You know, shield her mind from the vision she was having but, somehow, I seemed to have…I don't know, tapped into her power. I saw all of you, laying at my feet. I had killed you all."

"Ok," said Edward, slowly. "But you passed out."

"No, I don't think I did," I muttered, disagreeing with him.

"What are you talking about?" asked Jasper.

"I don't know how but…" I trailed off as I looked around. "I think I somehow…projected myself into one of Alice's visions. I saw Aro killing Marcus and Caius. They were warning him not to come for me and he killed them. He's gone crazed with his obsession to get to me," I explained. I looked over at Edward and Jasper. "They are coming. Soon."

"Fucking asshole," growled Jasper.

"Look, we need to get back to the family," muttered Edward, standing up. He was refusing to look at me, choosing to look out into the trees. Rejection washed over me as I stood up.

"Fine," I whispered. "Let's go."

Edward looked back at me but I took off running through the trees. Jasper fell into step with me, while Edward followed us. It hurt to think that Edward didn't want me anymore. I had opened up a huge part of myself to him. I gave him my heart and just when things got too hard, he was ready to bail. As we approached the house, I pushed those thoughts out of my head. If that was how he wanted to be, then let him. I survived three hundred years without him. I could survive the rest of my life as well.

The three of us walked into the house. Jasper rushed right over to Alice's side, scooping her into his arms and settling her on his lap. Everyone else, of course, looked over at me. I shifted my eyes away from them. I didn't need to see the fear and disappointment in their eyes.

"Are you ok now, Bella?" asked Carlisle. I simply nodded my head as I wasn't sure what to say to my brother. He came over and stood in front of me, placing his hand under my chin and lifting my eyes up to meet his. "Are you ok, sister?"

"Physically," I murmured. He nodded his head as he pulled me into a hug. I slipped my arms around him, fisting his shirt in my hand. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," he whispered. "I'm just worried about you."

"I know," I muttered, guiltily.

"Are we going to talk about what the fuck happened here?" asked Emmett. I pulled back from Carlisle and looked over at him. He was standing in front of Rose, like he was guarding her. Then it hit me. He was guarding her from me. "I think we deserve an explanation."

"I don't know what to tell you," I muttered, looking away.

"How did you get into my head?" asked Alice. I looked over at her as she climbed off of Jasper's lap. He tried to stop her but she waved him off. "You were inside my vision. I saw you laying on the floor of that room."

"What is she talking about?" asked Carlisle, looking from her to me.

"I saw Aro kill Marcus and Caius after they betrayed him," explained Alice. Everyone in the room gasped. "Bella was there."

"How?" asked Carlisle, looking over at me.

"I don't know," I muttered. "I think I somehow projected myself into her vision but I don't know how."

"Eleazar?" asked Carlisle, looking over at the man.

"I don't know," said Eleazar, shaking his head. "I've never heard of a vampire who could do that."

I could feel everyone else staring at me, gawking at me. "It felt real," I muttered. "I could feel the heat from the flames. Aro is coming for me. He and his army will be here soon. I can feel it."

"Ok, so what do we do?" asked Esme, standing up.

"Alice, can you give me a time frame?" asked Carlisle.

"I can't see anything anymore," she muttered, looking at me.

"I should leave," I whispered.

"WHAT?" roared Edward, coming over and grabbing my arms. "YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME!"

"It's the only way to keep everyone safe," I argued, tearing his arm off of me. "Besides, you made it clear to me, Edward."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, shaking his head.

"Look, you two can hash this out later," snapped Carlisle, pushing Edward back. He turned and glared at me. "You listen to me, Isabella. You are not leaving."

"Carlisle, I have to," I said, pleading with him to understand. "I will kill all of you and I wouldn't be able to live with myself. Please understand."

"No," he said, firmly.

"Car-"

"NO!" he yelled, grabbing my arms and shoving me into the wall behind me. I could feel the plaster crack. "I LOST YOU ONCE AND I WILL NOT LOSE YOU AGAIN!"

"WOULD YOU RATHER LOSE YOUR WIFE, CARLISLE," I screamed, pushing him off of me. I turned and looked at everyone. They were staring at me with wide, desperate eyes. "Do you just not get it? I love you all too much to stay here and kill you. I would rather die than live the rest of my existence reliving that."

"You won't kill us," said Edward. I snapped my head over to him.

"I've seen it," I snarled. "I saw it in the fortune teller's head."

"Because someone has made a decision that could cause that to happen," said Edward, stepping toward me. I stepped back. "It doesn't mean it will."

"I will not risk your life," I murmured. "I love you too much, Edward, to kill you."

"Bella," he sighed, closing his eyes.

"Don't worry about it, Edward," I muttered, heading for the stairs. "I'll be out of here and you can get back to your life."

I ran up the stairs, slamming my bedroom door behind me. Before I had barely taken a step into the room, the door was thrown open and Edward had me in this arms. He spun me around and crushed his lips down onto mine, roughly thrusting his tongue into my mouth. He pushed me back until I hit the wall behind me.

"You are my life, Bella," he growled, moving his lips down to my neck. "Do you hear me?"

"No," I muttered, halfheartedly pushing him away. He grabbed my hands and held them against the wall with one of his own. He pressed the full length of his body against me.

"You own me, Bella. All of me," he snarled, nipping at my collarbone. "When I saw you laying on the ground, motionless, I wanted to die. It hurt that bad."

"Edward, I will kill you," I cried out. Edward pulled back from me and looked me right in the eye.

"No, you won't," he said. "I won't let you."

"You can't stop me," I whispered, slipping my hands out of his. I reached up and grabbed his face, throwing my shield over the two of us. "Edward, please understand."

"No," he murmured, leaning his forehead down onto mine. "I can't live without you. The pain alone would kill me, love."

"Edward," I murmured.

"Please don't leave me, Bella," he whispered.

"Edward," I said, again as I laid my forehead on his chest.

"Please," he begged. I sighed as I looked up at him.

"Fine, but if I kill you, I'm going to be so pissed at you," I muttered.

Edward smiled. "Deal," he said. "I love you."

"I love you, too," I whispered. "More than you will ever know."

**Thank you for all the reviews. So what did you think? Hate Aro? Think Marcus and Caius got the raw end of the deal? Think Bella needs to stop being such a drama queen? Let me know by leaving me a few words in the review box. **


	18. Chapter 18

Edward kissed me once more before we headed back downstairs to where everyone else was still sitting. None of them were speaking and they still hadn't relaxed. Emmett was standing in front of Rose, protecting her from me. Garrett and Eleazar were perched in front of Tanya, Kate, Irina, and Carmen just as Emmett was. The only ones who didn't seem to be afraid of me were Jasper and Carlisle.

Jasper was sitting on the couch with Alice tucked into his arms. She had her face nestled into his neck and he was rubbing her back. I didn't have to tap into his feelings to know that he was passionately in love with the fortune teller, which just made it harder to think that I could kill her. I liked Alice and she made Jasper happy. I looked away as I felt guilty again. It was selfish of me to stay like this but as I looked at Edward, I realized that I couldn't leave him, either. I loved him too much.

Carlisle was standing in front of the window next to Esme. He had an arm wrapped around her waist and she was snuggled up against him, almost to the point that they looked like they had been fused together. Esme was not the type of woman that our father would have wanted Carlisle to marry but you never would have found a better woman for my brother. She was the momma bear of her family, trying desperately to protect her cubs, even if that meant protecting them from me.

I shifted my eyes from them and focused on the crack on the wall from when I kicked Jasper off of me. It spread from the floor to the ceiling. Edward cleared his throat to get everyone's attention but I kept my eyes locked on the damage that I had done to the house. Was the crack a metaphor for our future? Would it be the same for us? Dividing us into two? Me versus them?

"Bella," said Carlisle. I broke my eyes off the crack and looked over at my brother. He and Esme had turned and were looking at me. "Are you done throwing your temper tantrum?"

"Fuck you, Carlisle," I muttered, dryly. "Forgive me for not wanting to kill you. You know, I've just found you, too, and I don't particularly want to kill you, brother."

"You won't," he insisted. I shook my head and looked away. "Bella."

"So what do we do now?" I asked, ignoring him. "Aro is coming and he will be here soon. I can feel it."

"How soon?" asked Jasper, looking back at me. "Can you give us an idea of how soon?"

"Days…maybe," I muttered, shaking my head. "I don't know."

"Ok, so we need to get moving," he said, standing up. He placed a kiss on Alice's lips before he set her on the couch. "We need to call Peter and Charlotte-"

"Why?" I asked, folding my arms in front of me.

"Because we need help," said Jasper, shrugging his shoulders.

"No, we don't," I sighed. "Look, the only way to stop Aro is to let me meet him, alone, and-"

"No way," yelled Carlisle while Jasper growled, "Fuck that."

"There is no way in hell that I am letting you face him alone, love," said Edward, looking down at me. "Don't even about it."

"Edward-"

"No," he said, forcefully. I narrowed my eyes at him as I stepped away from him.

"You don't tell me what I can or can't do, Edward," I snarled.

"I do when you are acting crazy," he snapped.

"I am not acting crazy," I hissed. "I am trying to protect all of you."

"Bella," said Alice. I looked over at her as she stood up. Jasper turned and slipped his arm around her waist. "I know you are scared; I saw what you saw but it doesn't have to happen."

"Alice-"

"No," she said, firmly. "Just listen to me."

Alice pulled out of Jasper's arms, ignoring her mate as he reached for her. She was slightly unsteadying on her feet as she came over to me and Edward. She slowly reached out and grabbed my hand. It was like the lights clicked off and a movie started as I found myself in Alice's head again.

I couldn't make out everything I saw, there were too many imagines. They were like movie previews; Edward and I running through the woods together, stopping in our meadow. Carlisle and I standing in front of the land where our childhood home once stood. Rose, Esme, Alice, and I shopping for dresses. Emmett and I wrestling, ending with me pinning to the ground and him whining about me cheating again. Jasper and I hunting and so many more.

I jumped back and pulled my hand out of hers, letting the imagines fall from my mind. I opened my eyes and looked at Alice. She was smiling even though everyone behind her was tense and rigid.

"What the hell was that?" I asked.

"That, Bella," smirked Alice, "is one of a dozen possible futures I have seen for you ever since you and I locked minds."

"But you said you can't see me," I muttered. "Or anything around me."

"I couldn't," she mused. "At least not until you decided to let me in. See, I can't see you or any of us unless I am physically linked to you, Bella. It's very annoying."

"How'd you figure that out?" asked Eleazar. Alice smiled and looked back at him.

"Once Bella tapped into my powers, we bonded, I guess you would say. Since my power is not a mental or physical power, I can use my power around her, only I have to be touching her."

"That's great," I said, "but that doesn't change the fact that you saw me killing all of you."

"Yes, I did," admitted Alice. "I've also seen Edward getting a horrible haircut that I was able to talk him out of. Carlisle once made the decision to try eating human food at the hospital and I was able to stop him before he ended up stuffing himself with pizza and having to throw it up later."

"What's your point?" I asked.

"My point is that when they decided not to do those things, the vision changed," explained Alice. "Someone has made the decision to do something that could cause you to kill us all, Bella. It doesn't mean it has to happen."

"Ok, so who made the decision and what was it?" I asked, folding my arms in front of me.

"I don't know," fretted Alice. "I think it was Aro but I don't know if it is simply because he has chosen to come here or if there is more to it. I'm still working on it."

"Well, it doesn't matter because he is coming here," I said. "The only way for me to stop him, is to get to him before he can get here. I can take out his army and kill him."

"It's too dangerous," said Edward. I turned and looked at him, prepared to argue with him but he held his hand up. "No, just hear me out."

"Fine," I sighed, folding my arms in front of me.

"With the power that he has behind him, he could kill you, or worse," said Edward. I closed my eyes and shook my head.

"Or I can use that power to take his ass out," I said.

"Or you could let us help you," said Eleazar. I snapped my eyes open and looked over at him. "You could learn to channel you power so that you can control it, and not the other way around."

"I can't," I insisted. "Don't you think I've tried."

"Yes, you have but it's different now," said Eleazar, moving over to me and Edward. He gripped both of our hands and placed them together. "Edward can be a catalyst for you. If you let him support you, you can draw off the energy that you need to be able to take Aro out once and for all."

"What if I kill him?" I asked. "Eleazar, he's my everything."

"That's exactly why you can't kill him," he smiled. "Sweetheart, you can do this."

"I hope you're right," I muttered.

Over the next couple of days, we planned and plotted our defense against Aro and his guard. Carlisle, Emmett, Jasper, Garrett, and Edward all worked with me as I tried to channel my powers through Edward and take only what I needed. I managed not to kill them. I only ripped their arms off a couple of times and threw them around like rag dogs but at least I didn't kill them. I was worried about what would happen once we had more than just our tight knit group around me. It was one thing when I was pulling the energy out of four vampires. What would happen when I was trying to pull it out of twenty?

While we were working on my control, everyone else was trying to find as many allies as we could to come and help us, in case this turned into a real battle. Jasper had called Peter and Charlotte, who immediately said they would be on their way from south Texas where they were currently staying. Esme, Rose, and Alice had contacted a handful of other covens to come and help us but I still wasn't convinced that this was going to work. What if I just ended up killing everyone who came to help us?

Emmett broached the subject one night about asking the puppies to help us. Needless to say none of us were thrilled with the idea.

"No, just listen to me," snapped Emmett, standing up. "They may be a bunch of stinky ass dogs but they have power and we could use their help. This effects them, just as much as it does us."

"How?" asked Edward, facing his brother.

"What do you think Aro is going to do when he realizes that there is a pack of shape shifters sitting on the other side of town?" asked Emmett. "He's going to tear through town and try to get them and I don't think he will care who gets in his way."

"They won't help us," I said, causing everyone to look at me. "They think I am going to end the world, remember? Why would they help us?"

"Because they will do anything to protect their peeps," smirked Emmett.

"Did you just say peeps?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "Seriously?"

"Yes," he said, just as serious. "I think we should talk to them and explain the deal. I would be willing to bet my left arm that they take it."

"Can't hurt I suppose," muttered Carlisle, standing up. "I'll give Sam a call and see if they will meet with us."

Sam agreed to meet with Carlisle, but insisted that I wasn't to be there. It would seem that the puppies still weren't fond of me. It didn't really matter anyway because I didn't want to be around them anyway. I may not like the puppies but I didn't want them dead either. So while Carlisle, Emmett, and Jasper went to talk to the puppies, Edward and I went running.

Aro and his guard were getting closer. I could feel them coming for me. The restlessness was gnawing on me, pushing me to run and I ran a lot. The only problem was no matter how much I ran, I couldn't shake the feeling off. In fact all running seemed to do was make it worse and I was getting really tired of it.

The puppies agreed to help us, for the sake of their own peeps, as Emmett said, and our plan was set. They would come when we got a better idea of when Aro was coming and we had a group of allies that were due to start showing up in the morning, starting with Peter and Charlotte. I couldn't handle the anticipation lurking in the house anymore so I looked over at Edward and took off running out the door.

Edward followed me out of the house but didn't say anything as we ran again. It was one of the many things about him that I loved. He understood me and what I needed. I hoped that he felt that I understood him and what he needed, as well.

"Stop," said Edward, pulling me to the ground. I laid back in the grass of our quaint little meadow and looked up at the stars. "You can't keep running."

"I know," I muttered, looking over at him. He was laying next to me, watching me with a smile on his face. "Do you remember your human life?"

"Not really," he said, rolling onto his side. "Sometimes, if I try hard enough, I can almost remember my mother. How about you?"

"Not really," I smiled. "I remember bits of pieces of my life, mostly with Carlisle."

"You two were close, weren't you?" asked Edward.

"Carlisle was my best friend," I said, looking up at the stars. "I wasn't like other girls my age and Carlisle understood me, I suppose."

"How were you different?" asked Edward.

"I didn't marry the first boy who asked me, Edward," I said, looking over at him. "I wanted to fall passionately in love with the man who was meant to love me forever. My father didn't agree with my position on love. He felt it would be wiser to marry the first man who offered me his hand. He was very put out with me for stalling and hadn't spoken to me for several days before I was changed. I'll always regret that I wasn't able to make my peace with him before he died."

"I'm sure he just wanted you to be happy," smiled Edward. "Would he have liked me?"

"No," I laughed, shaking my head. "No offence of course, but my father would have taken one look at you and your hair and turned you away. I, of course, would have told him to fuck off and ran away with you."

"That's ok," snorted Edward, looking up at the stars. "My mother would have called you a tramp."

"Why?" I asked, rolling over so that I was facing him.

"Because you say fuck," he smirked, rolling over and hovering over me. I could feel his hardened length pressing into my hip.

"Hmm," I moaned, wrapping my legs around his. "Do you like it when I say fuck, Edward?"

"Yes," he murmured, letting the weight of his body fall onto me. "Can't you feel how much I love your dirty mouth?"

"Yes," I moaned, again. "Touch me, Edward."

"With pleasure," he muttered.

Edward leaned down and crushed his lips down onto mine as he slid his hand up my leg and cupped my ass in his nimble hands. He pulled me up as he pushed down into me, grinding his hard cock into me. I pulled my lips from his as I gasped for unneeded air. In a flash I rolled us so that I was straddling Edward. His eyes were nearly pitch black and filled with lust.

I smirked as I reached down and pulled off my t-shirt. Edward's eyes snapped down to my breasts and he licked his lips. He brought his hand up and ripped my bra off of me, flinging into the woods behind him. In an instant, he was sitting up and had sucked one of my nipples into his mouth.

"Oh, fuck, Edward," I groaned, gripping his hair in my hands.

"You are driving me fucking insane, Bella," he growled, sliding his hands around and gripping my ass and pulling me even closer to him. "I want you so bad."

"Take me," I whispered. Edward looked up at me.

"Not here," he said, quietly.

"Yes, here and now," I murmured, pressing my forehead down on his. "This is our spot, Edward. I want you to make love to me here and now."

"You deserve better," he whispered, looking down. I pulled his head back.

"I fell in love with you in this meadow, Edward," I said, softly. "I want our first time to be here, where our love started."

Edward rolled us so that he was hovering over me again. He sat back on this feet and pulled off his t-shirt, tossing it over with mine. He leaned down and kissed me before moving his lips down my neck to my collar bone. His kisses left a trail that tingled as he kissed and sucked his way down my marble body. He teased my nipples for several minutes, causing me to moan.

He looked up at me as he reached the top of my jeans. I nodded my head, encouraging him to continue. That was all it took for Edward to rip my pants off of me and toss them aside, leaving me in just my little white cotton panties. He gripped the sides of them and slowly, and quite carefully, slipped them down my legs. He brought them up to his nose and inhaled deeply.

"Amazing," he murmured so low that I barely heard him. He dropped my panties onto the ground next to him and bent down, bringing his nose even with my wet sex. He inhaled again and growled. "Fucking amazing."

The wetness between my thighs doubled at the mixture of his growl and the lust that was rolling off of him in waves. He gripped my thighs in his hands and lifted me off the ground before burying his face into me. I cried out as I grabbed the back of his head, trying to regain some sense of control over myself but failed miserably. I couldn't do anything when Edward was between my legs like this.

"Edward," I moaned, arching my back off the ground as I came hard.

Something snapped in Edward in that moment because he dropped me onto the ground and tore his pants off as quickly as he could. His erection came up and slapped against his stomach. He pushed my legs further apart and slipped the head of his cock into my opening, stretching me. He looked me right in the eye as he filled me to the hilt in one, fluid move.

"FUCK!" I screamed, arching my back off the ground once again. A mixture of pain and pleasure soared through me.

"Look at me," urged Edward. I hadn't realized that I had snapped my eyes shut and opened them. He was looking down at me, waiting for me to get used to his size. "Are you ok?"

"Yes," I gasped, drawing air into my lungs even if I didn't need it. "Keep going."

Edward pulled back slowly and pushed back in. This time the pain was gone and I was filled with nothing but pleasure. I wrapped my legs around his and started lifting my hips to meet his thrusts. Our eyes never left each others while we made love for the first time. Edward slid his hand down he side of my body, cupping my thigh and pulling my leg over his hip. He slid so much deeper into me like this.

I seemed to be unable to make any noise other than a few moans, grunts, and the occasional whimper as he hit a sweet spot inside of me that I didn't even know existed. Suddenly, Edward stopped moving and pulled me into his lap while keeping himself sheathed inside of me. I sank down even further onto him, causing us both to moan.

"So fucking tight," he groaned, gripping my ass in his hands and started moving along his shaft.

"Edward," I moaned, nestling my head into the croak of his neck. "You feel amazing inside of me."

"You feel amazing wrapped around me," he whispered. "I never imagined it could feel this good, baby. It's so fucking good."

"I'm so close," I murmured, shifting my hips faster. "So goddamn close, baby."

"Me too, love," he growled, nipping at my neck.

"EDWARD!" I screamed, as my walls clenched down around him.

"BELLA!" roared Edward, slamming my hips down onto him once more before he came deep inside of me.

I stayed wrapped around his body as we both came down off our orgasm induced highs. "I love you, Edward."

"I love you, too," he whispered.

After a few minutes of just listening to the quiet around us, we pulled on our clothes and headed back toward the house. It was time to prepare for the biggest fight of our lives.

**Thank you for all the reviews. I apologize for the delay but I really struggled with this chapter. I have been working on it for several days and every time I came back to it, I found myself doubting what I was writing. Big, huge thanks to GAjujubee for helping me get my head on straight. You're my rock, girl!**


	19. Chapter 19

Edward and I took our time returning to the house. I replayed the way it felt when Edward and I were making love together in the meadow. It was…amazing and everything that I didn't realize that I wanted. I looked up at the auburn haired vampire walking next to me, who was wearing a proud, smug like smile on his face. Apparently, he was also quite happy with our time in the meadow.

It felt nice to get that small amount of time to just be with him. It felt like so much of the time we had spent together over the last couple of months since we met had been spent fighting with someone, whether it be the wolves, or each other. I was just hoping that I would get to spend forever with him. I pushed all the negative thoughts out of my head. They would not help me with the upcoming battle we were facing.

As we approached the house, I could sense the two vampires sitting on the other side of the wall. Edward tightened his arm that was currently wrapped around my waist as we headed up the porch and into the house. Peter and Charlotte were sitting on the couch with Jasper. Peter was a tall, gangly looking man with snow blond hair. Charlotte was just barely shorter than her mate. However, she had dark, black hair that floated down her back. Both vampires had crimson eyes.

"Bella," smiled Charlotte, standing up. I slipped out of Edward's arms and crossed the room, wrapping my arms around my old friend. "It's been too long."

"What? Nearly ten years?" I asked, pulling back. I brought my hands up to her face. "I see your eyes are as red as ever."

"Don't start lecturing us," sighed Peter, standing up. "Jasper has already given us the speech about hunting in the area."

"Good," I smiled, hugging him. "How are you, Peter?"

"Worried about you," he said, honestly. I rolled my eyes as I looked away. "Now, don't be like that, Sugar."

"I'm fine," I said, turning back to him. "I can take care of myself. It's you all that I am worried about."

"There's a shock," he muttered. Edward cleared his throat behind me. I smiled as I turned and looked back at him.

"Sorry," I murmured, moving over to him. "Edward, meet Peter and Charlotte."

"Nice to meet you," said Edward. "And, no, I'm not going to hurt her so you can stop thinking of ways to torture me if I do."

"Charlotte," I sighed, shaking my head.

"How'd you know it was me?" she asked, cocking her eyebrow.

"Oh, please, Peter would be too afraid of me ripping his head off to send Edward threats." I snorted and shook my head. "I am taking it you've already been informed of everyone's powers."

"Oh, yes," she smiled. "Jasper told us all about your mind reader and his little fortune teller."

"Good," I murmured, looking around. "Have you met everyone?"

"Everyone but that brother of yours," said Peter. "I didn't know you had a brother or that he was a vampire."

"Neither did I, dumbass, or I would have been with him," I said, rolling my eyes. "I thought he was long dead."

"Hmm," he snorted. "Well, excuse me for saying anything."

"You're excused," I smirked, heading over to the stairs. "I'm off to shower. Edward, are you joining me?"

Edward cleared his throat and said, "Yes."

A moment later, I felt him sweep me into his arms and run me up the stairs, leaving Peter, Charlotte, and Jasper laughing in our wake. Edward carried me into my bathroom and shut the door behind him. In a matter of moments, my clothes had been ripped from my body. Edward wasted no time in tearing his clothes off. His cock was hard again and begging me to taste him. Who was I to deny him?

I threw my shield over the two of us and dropped to my knees in front of him. I wrapped my lips around the tip, slowly bringing him into my mouth until he was nestled in the back of my throat. Edward muttered out a strangled "fuck" as I pulled back and quickly took him back in, letting him slide down my throat. He moved his hand to the back of my head and started shifting his hips to the rhythm I was setting. He was moaning and muttering my name over and over, fisting my hair in his hands. Just when I thought he was going to cum, he pulled away. I looked up at him, confused and a little hurt.

"Baby, I need to be in you," he thought.

I smiled coyly as I stood up and turned so that my back was facing him. I bent over, placing my hands on top of the marbled vanity in front of me. I looked over my shoulder at Edward and found him staring at my ass. His hands were clenched into tight fists at his side.

"What are you waiting for, lover?"

Edward snapped his eyes up to mine as he grabbed my hips and slammed himself into me. I cried out as he pushed me into the vanity, cracking it down the middle. Either he didn't notice or didn't care because he started pounding into me like a man possessed. Edward slid his hand up from my hip and grabbed my hair, pulling my head up. From the angle we were in, I could see him fucking me in the mirror. He was focused on me and I on him.

There was a raw, primal look in his eyes and I was even more turned on than I already was. I could feel my orgasm starting to build and knew I wasn't going to last much longer. Edward seemed to sense that and reached around with his other hand and started rubbing my swollen nub, all while keeping his hand fisted in my hair.

"Baby, I need you to cum for me," moaned Edward. "Please, I can't…"

"So close," I muttered, pushing back into him. "I'm so fucking close."

Edward leaned down and brought his tongue down on the birthmark that sat on my shoulder. The moment his tongue touched my skin, I felt the coil snap and I came harder than I did in the meadow. Edward continued to thrust erratically into me several times before he growled and came, hard.

"Fuck," he growled, stilling his hips. He placed his head on my back, while keeping himself sheathed inside of me. "That was…"

"Yeah," I agreed. "Wow."

Edward slipped out of me and I instantly missed the feeling of him being buried deep inside of me. We quickly showered and put on some clean clothes. Edward kissed me before we headed downstairs to the living room. Carlisle was sitting on the couch with Peter, Charlotte, Jasper, Alice, and Esme. They all started laughing as Carlisle scowled and glared at Edward, no doubt threatening him once again.

"Laugh it up," I sighed, plopping down on the couch. "Payback is a bitch."

"And so are you," smirked Jasper.

The next few days were spent welcoming all the covens that had gathered to help us with our fight against the insanity that was known at Aro and his guard. I was impressed by the number of people who came to the aid of Carlisle and the family. Impressed but jealous at the same time. I had been so careful to keep people at arms length for so long that, besides Peter, Charlotte, and Jasper, I didn't have anyone. That was an upsetting feeling.

The first to arrive was the Irish Coven. They consisted of Siobhan, Liam and Maggie, who was in interesting little vampire herself. Apparently, she had the ability to tell if you were lying or telling the truth. She insisted on testing my immunity to all powers by running several tests. She deemed that Carlisle was telling the truth about us being siblings and that Emmett was lying when he said that he once killed a seven foot bear. Like that was so hard to figure out.

"Ok, Bella," smirked Maggie, confidently placing her hands on her hips. "Hit me with your best shot."

"Hmm, ok," I murmured, thinking. My lips curved up into a smile as I placed my hands on my own hips. "When I was a human, Carlisle used to chase me through the woods that lead away from our house. One day, I got lost and it took him and father nearly ten hours to find me."

Maggie studied me closely as she tried to figure out if I was telling the truth or making up a lie. After several minutes, she threw her hands up and said, "I can't tell! I have never ran into this before."

"It's true," smiled Carlisle, placing his hand on my shoulder. "Father nearly beat my ass red for letting her get lost. She was twelve and nearly died from the pneumonia she developed."

"Well, damn," muttered Maggie, shaking her head. "I'm not sure I like this."

Maggie wasn't the only one to voice their displeasure of my immunity. The day after the Irish Coven showed up, a group from Brazil arrived. The three women were intimating and quite large. They were the most primal vampires I had ever met yet I wasn't fearful of them. Zafrina, their leader, had the ability to create illusions. She could plant your ass in a rain forest if she wanted to. Luckily, her power didn't work on me. Although she didn't think it was all that great. Neither did her coven made up of two other women, Senna and Kachiri. The three of them were very close.

Not long after they showed up, members of an Egyptian Coven showed up. They were led by a man named Amun. He and his mate, Kebi, brought Tia and Benjamin with them. Kebi was a quiet woman who rarely said more than two words to anyone. Perhaps that was due to her outspoken mate, who did nothing to show his concern about our mission.

"I don't see why we are getting involved in this nonsense," he complained. "If the girl is so powerful, then she should be able to take Aro out herself."

"Stop being a stubborn old man, Amun," said Tia, rolling her red eyes.

"I am not being stubborn, child," he snapped. "I am simply looking out for my property."

"Last time I checked, slavery was illegal," I said, cocking an eyebrow at him. He narrowed his eyes at me. "If you don't want to stay and help, then feel free to leave but Tia, Benjamin, and, even, Kebi are welcome to stay."

I turned and walked out of the house, leaving everyone standing there watching me. The tension inside of that place was unbearable and I was beginning to feel overwhelmed with the power that was sitting on the other side of the wall. How was I going to be able to harness just enough to take out Aro but not kill everyone around me?

"So, you're kind of powerful, huh?" asked Benjamin, joining me on the porch.

"Yep," I muttered.

"I wonder," he mused. I looked up at him. "Well, my power is the ability to control the elements of nature. I wonder if I can still do that with you around."

"I don't know," I said, hoping over the railing and heading out to the yard. "Why don't you find out?"

Benjamin smiled as he followed me out into the yard. He stopped when he got about ten yards from me. He closed his eyes and brought his hands up. I could feel the earth trembling under me, sending a vibration shooting through my body. Everyone inside the house must have been able to feel it as well because they came rushing out onto the porch just mere seconds before pillars came shooting up through the earth, circling around me like bars on a jail cell.

"Alright!" exclaimed Benjamin. I laughed as I lifted my foot and kicked the ones standing in front of me, sending them flying several feet over his head. He looked from them and back at me with a huge smile on his face. "Impressive."

"You as well," I smiled. "You might be useful after all, Benji."

"Benji?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep," I smirked, winking at him. Benjamin laughed and accepted his nickname.

Over the next handful of days, we trained. I worked harder on harnessing enough power out of everyone to destroy the objects that Benjamin was nice enough to make for us. While I was able to take what I needed and not kill everyone, all of our training left me weak. Edward, Jasper, Carlisle, and Emmett took turns hunting for me, bringing me back the largest elk, deer, and bears that they could find but it was barely enough.

When I wasn't hunting, I often found myself with Alice. Our hands were pressed together while she searched for any information that would help us know exactly when the Volturi was going to be here but we couldn't pinpoint an exact time frame. That s scared the shit out of me. Aro was powerful and he had an arm behind him. An army that was much bigger than ours.

Seven days after the Egyptian coven showed up, I found myself pacing back and forth in the living room. The anxious feeling that I had been fighting for weeks was stronger than I had ever felt in all my years on this earth. No matter how much I tried to push back the feeling, it continued to grow, gnawing at my insides. It was early morning, when I felt them. I fell to my knees and screamed, shattering the windows and glass wall around us.

"BELLA!" yelled Carlisle, grabbing my hands as I pulled at my hair. I looked up at him. "It's ok."

"No, it's not," I muttered. "They're here."

**Thank you for all the reviews. We have reached the final showdown. Will Bella be able to stop herself from killing everyone?**


	20. Chapter 20

The air was thick and tense as my words hung in the air. Everyone seemed to be frozen where they stood, unsure of what to say or do. Edward was by my side in an instant, wrapping his arms around my body. Carlisle moved over and knelt down in front of me, slowly reaching out and grabbing my hands and pulling them out of my hair.

"What?" he asked, quietly. "When?"

"Now," I gasped "They are almost to the clearing. We need to leave now if we want to protect the town."

Carlisle stood up, pulling me up to my feet and looked around at everyone. "Let's go."

Taking one more look around at each other, knowing this could be the end of everything for all of us, we headed outside and to the clearing where our fates laid.

While we ran through the trees, I could hear Carlisle talking on his cell phone to the wolves. He told them it was time and part of me, a very small part of me, felt guilty for getting them involved in this mess. I may not like them but they were just trying to protect their own people and were willing to give their lives for them. You had to admire that.

We stopped in the clearing and looked around. I could feel Aro and his arm coming, closer and closer. Their power was intoxicating and I could feel it vibrating in my bones. It was like the most intense high I've ever felt. It both excited me and scared the shit out of me. There was truly something wrong with me. Edward slipped his hand into mine, bringing it up to his lips. I looked up at him.

"You can do this," he whispered. "We can do this."

I turned from him because I wasn't as confident as he was. Jasper came over and brought his hands up to my face, letting his fingers rest on my temples. "No matter what happens, I'm here."

"Jas," I murmured, closing my eyes. "Thank you for being my brother."

"Thank you for saving my life," he whispered. He leaned in and pressed his lips to my forehead before releasing my face and turning to Edward. He stuck his hand out. "Hold onto her. Keep her as close to you as you can."

"I will," said Edward, slipping his arm around my waist.

I turned and looked at everyone as the wolves came into the clearing. They had already turned into their puppy forms and were tense and rigid as they looked around at all of us. Suppose I can see that as they were finding themselves in the midst of vampires. Sam looked right at me and for a moment, we just looked at each other. He nodded his head and looked away, silently telling me that they trusted me. I just hoped their trust wasn't in vain.

As I looked around the clearing, I saw that everyone was huddled in their small covens. They had put their lives on the line to help us and I would do everything I could to make sure they came out of this alive. The Denali's had become a second family to me and I was growing fond of the Irish and Egyptian Coven. Peter and Charlotte were standing next to Alice and Jasper. They looked over at me and smiled. I let them live once and I hope that they still would be able to.

Jasper had moved back to Alice and was holding her close to him. I was happy that my best friend had found his soul mate. Emmett had Rose's hands in his but neither of them were speaking as they stared into each other's eyes. Something told me that they were so connected that a mere glance spoke volumes between the two lovers. Carlisle had Esme tucked into his arms, whispered to her that everything was going to be ok. She had his shirt in her hand, holding onto him as tightly as she could. Carlisle was a good man and Esme was a good woman. Together, they had formed a family. A family that they let me and Jasper become a part of.

I pulled from Edward and stepped over to my brother. Carlisle looked over at me and smiled as he spoke. "Who would have thought that one day, we would be fighting like this?" he asked, smiling sadly.

"Carlisle," I said, looking at my feet. "There is so much I want to say, brother."

"Me too, sister," he murmured, pulling away from Esme just to wrap his arms around me. "Father would be proud of you."

"A three hundred year old, old maid," I murmured, hugging him back.

"A strong woman, who takes care of those she loves," he said, leaning back. He brought his hands up to my face. "Father may have been an unpleasant man at times but his greatest wish was just to see us happy. When you disappeared, it broke him. Isabella, you were his life."

"I wish I could have said goodbye," I whispered. "I've missed him so much."

"He knows," murmured Carlisle. "When we get through this, we'll go back."

"Promise?" I asked.

"I promise," he smiled. "Have faith in yourself, Bella. We do."

"Brother, thank you for giving me a family again," I whispered. I looked over at Edward. "Thank you for helping me find my soul mate."

"Thank you for finding me." Carlisle leaned in and kissed my forehead. "I love you, sister."

"I love you, brother."

I took one more look around at everyone before I went back over to Edward. There was so much I wanted to say to him but I didn't know where to start. I wrapped my shield around the two of us and brought my hand up to his face.

"Edward, I love you," I thought.

"I love you, too," he said, wordlessly. "When this is over, you and I are getting married."

"That almost sounded like a proposal."

"I'm not asking," he thought. "I'm telling you that we are getting married. You need to make an honest vampire out of me."

"Deal."

Edward leaned his forehead down on mine and closed his eyes. He seemed so certain that we were going to survive this and live our happily ever after. How I hope he was right. All of the sudden, the air became even thicker and everyone around me tensed up. I leaned up and kissed Edward once more before I turned and faced Aro and his guard.

They were just starting to break through the trees on the other side of the large clearing. Their dark cloaks were flying behind them as they steadily moved forward. Aro was in front with Jane, Alec, Renata, and Chelsea right behind him. I had dealt personally with Jane and Alec before and knew they weren't going to be able to touch me but knew they were a powerful asset to Aro. I expanded my shield out to cover everyone, including the wolves. They may be willing to die for their people but I would what I could to save the mangy mutts.

"Isabella," said Aro, looking around at all of us before his eyes settled on me. "It's been a while."

"Not nearly long enough," I said, dryly. "You should know better than to come after me, Aro. I made myself clear what would happen while we were in Africa."

"Aw, my dear Isabella," he sighed, shaking his head. "You are just as misguided now as you were a century ago."

"I am not misguided, Aro," I said, sharply. "I told you then and I'm telling you now that I will have no part in you or your so called guard."

"You've always been stubborn," he said, folding his arms in front of you. "Honestly, it was one of the qualities that drew me to you as a human."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked. "You never knew me as a human."

"Ah, but I did," he smiled. "Poor Thomas thought I had sent him after you because he was hungry. I knew then that you would be a part of my family."

"Who's Thomas?" asked Carlisle, moving so that he was standing next to me.

"Thomas would be the vampire that changed Isabella," explained Aro, looking from me to Carlisle. "Her sire."

"What?" I snapped. "You're responsible for my change?"

"Of course I am," he scoffed. "Do you honestly think I couldn't smell the power that was flowing of you when you were a human? Even then I could tell that you were going to be great. That you were meant for this life. You should have been at me side a long time ago, Isabella. Now, it's time for you to take your rightful position at my side."

"Never," I snarled. "I will never join you, Aro."

"Then you will die with then," he hissed. "TAKE THEM ALL!"

Aro's guard started advancing toward us. Just as they are almost on us, I felt Edward pull his hand out of mine and move so that he was standing behind me. He wrapped his arms around my torso and pulled me into his chest. In that moment, I felt a surge rush through my body. One of the large guards, Felix, runs at us with a smirk on his face. I threw out my hand and gripped him around the neck, slamming him to the ground with so much force the trees that are surrounding us shake.

Everything slowed down, like I was moving in slow motion as I ripped his head off and tossed it behind me. I didn't need to look back to know that Jasper caught it and started our pile of body parts. I ripped apart the rest of Felix's body and moved on to the next guard, Demetri. Edward moved with me, keeping me centered as I felt the power surging inside of me. With each kill, I could feel the power building inside of me.

Just as I finished with Demetri, I heard Alice scream. I snapped around and saw Alec slam her on the ground with his hands around her throat. Edward and I went over and I tore his head off, followed by his arms, tossing them into the raging fire that Jasper had already started.

"Thanks," gasped Alice, scrambling to her feet.

"Anytime, Fortune teller," I said, winking at her.

Edward and I rushed over and started pulling vampires off the rest of our team, no our family. The air was full of the sounds of ripping flesh and bones snapping into pieces. I could hear the puppies growling as they fought along side of us. I heard one of them start whining and looked over to see Jane, pouncing on Jacob. I jumped over and threw her off of him.

"You bitch," she spat, scrambling to her feet. "You defend them."

"You bet your ass I do," I snarled. "You shouldn't be here, Jane. You know I am going to kill you."

"Not if I kill you first," she snapped, lunging for me.

Jane knocked me out of Edward's embrace and we rolled several feet away. I kicked her off of me but Jane scrambled back and pinned me back onto the ground. She grabbed my hair and slammed my head into the ground. The thud echoed through the air, bouncing from the trees.

"You think you are all that!" she seethed. I gripped her arms in my hands and pulled them behind her, snapping them off. "YOU'RE NOTHING!"

"At least I'm not his fucking little lapdog," I snarled, pushing Jane off of me. She flopped down on the ground and I jumped to my feet. I stepped onto her torso as I threw her arms into the closest fire I could reach. "At least I don't let that animal treat me like this little whore, Jane."

"He's going to break you," she growled. "He always gets what he wants."

"Not this time," I said, placing my foot on her neck and gripping her head in my hands. I violently ripped her head off and tossed it into the same fire as her arms.

I turned and looked around me. My family was standing around me, watching as I dismembered Jane. Aro was in the middle of them all. He had a look of pure fear on his face. Clearly, he expected a different outcome when he stepped onto my clearing. I moved over and stood in front of him.

"I warned you, Aro," I said, firmly.

"You were meant to join me," he said. "To be at my side."

"I was meant to be here today to kill you," I snarled, moving so that I was behind him. I placed my hands on his shoulders. "I know what you did, Aro. I saw you kill your brothers because they disagreed with you."

"They betrayed me," he said.

"No, they didn't want to die for you," I said, placing my hands on his head. "You threw your family away for a foolish man's quest and now, you have nothing. You stole my life from me and now, I'm taking yours."

"Isa-"

As Aro started to speak, I ripped his head off. In a flurry, I dismantled the rest of Aro Volturi and added his body to the fires that burned his guard. My body shook as the power inside of me reached it's limit and exploded, sending everyone around me flying through the air. I dropped to my knees and screamed, praying that I didn't kill anyone I loved.

**Thank you for all the reviews. What did you think about the battle? Only a few more chapters left, I think.**


	21. Chapter 21

"NO!" I screamed, falling to my knees and pulling at my hair. "PLEASE NO!"

The clearing was eerily quiet and I found myself afraid to look around. I wasn't prepared to see them if they were dead. I heard a groan and snapped my head up. Emmett was scrambling to his feet, rubbing his neck. He looked around at everyone before he looked over at me.

"Damn, Bella, you threw us around like a bunch of fucking rag dolls," he muttered, shaking his head. He looked around once again. "Get your asses up. You're freaking the girl out."

Slowly, people started to stand up. First, Siobhan, then Liam and Maggie. They looked disheveled but unharmed. They were clutching onto each other and checking to make sure they still had all their body parts. Benjamin, Tia, Kebi, and Amun were the next to stand up, followed by the wolves. They had all phased back to their human forms and were stumbling around unsteadily but they didn't seem to be in too bad of shape. A couple of cuts to their heads and torso but nothing worse than that. I slowly stood up and looked around for the other. Emmett rushed over and pulled Rose to her feet, holding her close to his chest.

"Are you ok, Baby?" he asked, nuzzling his face into her hair.

"Yeah, I'm fine," muttered Rose, moving her hand down to this the crotch of his pants. "Thank God you didn't lose your dick."

"No shit," laughed Emmett.

Garrett, Kate, Tanya, Irina, Eleazar, and Carmen were moving toward us from the other end of the clearing an they, too, looked ok. Esme moved over and was checking on Rose, Emmett, and Alice, who had dropped out of a tree. They also seemed to be ok but I couldn't see Carlisle, Jasper, or Edward anywhere and that scared the shit of me.

"Have you seen Carlisle, Jasper, or Edward?" I asked, moving through everyone. The smoke from the fires was starting to die down but I still couldn't see much around them.

"No," said Garrett, brushing some debris out of Kate's hair. "Carlisle and Jasper were on the other side of the field when you…"

Garrett trailed off as I took off, looking for any sign of them. The smell of the dead Volturi army was saturating the air and making me lightheaded and nauseas. Everywhere I looked all I saw was smoke, wolves, and other vampires but no Carlisle, no Jasper, and no Edward. I brought my hand up to my mouth as I struggled to contain the sob that threatened to escape my lips. Had I lost them?

"Bella," yelled Jasper. I spun around and saw him running through the trees on the other side of the clearing with Carlisle right behind him. I took off running and threw myself into their arms, sobbing tearlessly.

"Are you ok?" I cried.

"We're fine," said Jasper, pulling back and bringing his hands up to my face. "You need to hunt. Your eyes are pitched black and I can feel you shaking."

"Later," I muttered. "Have you seen Edward?"

"Bella-"

"LATER," I snapped, interrupting Jasper. "Have you seen Edward?"

"No, isn't he here?" asked Carlisle. I shook my head. "I'm sure he's fine, Bella."

"I hope so," I muttered.

Carlisle and Jasper kissed my cheeks and ran over to Esme and Alice. Both women fell into the arms of their lovers and I found myself jealous. I turned away, wrapped my arms around my chest, and started looking around again. I couldn't lose Edward now, not when I finally let him in. Not when I finally found my one true love. As I continued to search, I thought of the worst things. What if he had fallen into one of the fires when I threw them all back? If he hadn't, then where the hell was he?

"Bloodsucker," said Sam.

I sighed as I turned and faced him. He and the rest of his pack of puppies were standing behind me, trying to cover up their naked forms. Well, all of them but Jacob. He was standing there with his hands on his hips, looking quite smug about his package. I couldn't stop myself from looking down. I bit back the snort that almost came out when I saw his size. He was awfully proud of not very much. I cocked an eyebrow at him as I shook my head, causing him to glare at me.

"Well, I guess you didn't end the world," said Sam. I looked back over at him.

"Not yet," I smiled. Sam looked away as he smiled.

"If you ever need our help again," said Sam, seriously as he looked back at me. "We'll be here."

"Thank you," I said, nodding my head. "Look, I'm sorry for that day in the woods…"

"Don't be," muttered Sam. "We were wrong to come at you like that. It's just when you're facing the one person who can end your family, you get a little hot headed."

"Oh, I know," I snorted. "Thank you for your help here today."

"Thanks for not killing us all," he laughed. "We're heading back down to the rez. The elders are waiting for word on the outcome of the battle so…"

"Ok," I murmured, looking at the ground.

"He'll be fine," muttered Sam. I looked back up at him. "Your bloodsucker. He'll be fine."

"I hope so," I said, quietly.

Sam and his pack phased back into their wolf forms before they ran across the clearing and disappeared through the trees. Perhaps we came to an understanding today. One that would leave us as allies and not enemies any longer. I wrapped my arms around my chest as I felt a tingle wash over me. A feeling I only feel when Edward is around me.

"Looking for someone?" I turned and found Edward standing behind me, cocky ass smile on his face. I didn't say anything as I launched myself into his arms, taking him to the ground with me. "Ugh."

"Where were you?" I cried, beating on his chest. "I couldn't find you and I thought you were dead."

"I'm sorry, love," he sighed, hugging me tightly. "I ended up somewhere over the horizon. I ran back as fast as I could."

"You can't do that to me," I sobbed, tearlessly. "I can't lose you, Edward."

"You're never going to lose me," he murmured.

Without saying another word, he stood up with me still wrapped around his body and carried me past everyone. I was vaguely aware of them asking him if he was ok, or if I was. All I could focus on was the man who was holding me in his arms. Edward started running through the trees, tightening his arms around me.

It felt like it took Edward only a couple of minutes to make it back to the house from the clearing. He threw open the front door and rushed me upstairs to his bedroom. He threw me on his bed and started stripping my clothes off of me. I reached out and tore his shirt off, followed closely by his pants. He shredded my remaining clothes and I found myself laying before him, completely naked. Edward stripped off his boxers and moved so that he was hovering over me.

"Marry me?" he asked, leaning forward. The tip of his manhood was pressing into me. I shifted my hips, trying to bring him into my body but he grabbed my hips, keeping me still.

"Edward," I whimpered.

"Say you'll marry me, Bella," he murmured, slipping just the head of his cock into me.

"Edward, please," I cried, gripping his shoulders.

"I need to hear you say it," he insisted.

"I'll fucking marry you tonight, just get inside of me," I demanded.

That was all Edward needed to hear as he shifted his hips, entering me in one quick move. My back arched off the bed as I came at once. Edward's eyes flittered to a close and I knew he was struggling to maintain some composure over himself. I raised my hand up, pushing my shield over the two of us.

"Look at me," I thought. Edward opened his eyes, looking right down at me. "I thought I lost you."

"Never." Edward pulled back and thrust back into me. "You will never lose me."

"I was so scared."

"I knew you could do it," he thought, increasing his pace.

"Don't stop," I begged, clenching down as I came again. Edward shifted so that he was leaning over even more. He slid his arm under me, lifting me off the bed. He was thrusting deeper into me, filling me completely. "Don't ever stop loving me!"

"Never," he grunted, slamming his hips into me harder and faster. "I can't exist without you. You're my life, Bella. My purpose for being here. I never thought I would find you."

"I'm here," I murmured, weaving my fingers into his hair. He lifted his head and looked down at me. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he moaned, spilling inside of me and triggering another orgasm for me. Edward collapsed onto of me, burying his face in the side of my neck. "I can't move."

"I'm not asking you, too," I laughed, running my fingers through his hair. "Did you mean it?"

"What?" he asked, peppering my neck with kisses.

"Do you really want to marry me?" I asked. Edward leaned up and looked down at me.

"I've wanted to marry you since our first day in the meadow," he said, bringing his hand up to my face. "Watching you laying in the flowers, sunlight shining down on you. You had your eyes closed and you looked so peaceful."

"I was," I whispered, leaning into his hand. "I was so afraid."

"I know," he murmured, leaning down and kissing me.

"I didn't think anyone would ever love me, Edward,."

"I do," he murmured, sliding his hand down my side as he hardened inside of me. "I love all of you."

"I love you, too," I moaned as he started making love to me again.

After another hour of lovemaking and a shower, Edward and I put on some clean clothes and joined our family downstairs in the living room. We had been so wrapped up in each other that we hadn't heard them come in. Edward had his arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me as close to him as he could get. I didn't mind because I wanted to be as close to him as I could.

"Everything ok?" asked Jasper, from his seat on the sofa. Alice was tucked into his arms, facing laying in the crook of his neck.

"Everything's great," I smiled, sitting next to him. Edward settled on the other side, taking my hand in his. "You ok, Fortune Teller?"

"Yeah," she sighed, dreamily. "Just trying to see what kind of wedding you and Edward are going to have but I can't because you are being all stubborn and blocking me again."

"Sorry, sweet cheeks," I laughed.

"It's ok," she smiled, looking over at me. "Mine and Jas's wedding will make up for it."

I leaned forward and looked at my friend, who was smiling bigger than he ever had. "Jasper?"

"Yeah, B?" he asked.

"You're getting married?" I asked.

"Well," he said, smiling. "I figure I've been a bachelor long enough. Besides, I love her."

"You had better," said Edward, pulling me back into his arms. "Or I'd have to kill you and I don't want to do that. I've kind of grown to like you."

"Yeah?" asked Jasper, looking right at Edward.

"I know," said Edward, answering Jasper's unspoken threat.

I rolled my eyes and looked over at Carlisle. He was sitting on the base of the stairs with his chin in his hands. I pulled away from Edward and headed over and sat down next to him, hooking my arm into his and laying my head on his shoulder.

"What's on your mind, brother?" I asked. Carlisle sighed and laid his head on top of mine.

"Just thinking," he murmured.

"That can be dangerous," I smiled.

"Funny," he chuckled before turning serious. "Are you going to leave?"

"I don't think I can," I whispered, tightening my hold on his arm. "I think I've been looking for you for three hundred years, brothers. You've been pulling me to you and I didn't even realize it."

"You think so?" he asked. I nodded my head. "Can I give you away? I mean, I know I'm not father but…"

"I would be honored," I murmured, looking up at him. "Can we go home first though?"

"Yeah," he smiled, slipping his arm around my torso and pulling me into his chest. "I think we both need to say our goodbyes to him."

**Thank you for all the reviews. A few more chapters to go. **


	22. Chapter 22

A month later, Carlisle, Esme, Jasper, Alice, Rose, Emmett, Edward, and I found ourselves traveling down a small back road in the English countryside. It had been a long yet short month. Our friends had slowly gone back to their homes. The Denali's, who had been with us for so long, had made us promise that we would come visit soon.

Eleazar had finally sat down with Jasper. He and I had been out hunting and we had just come back to the house. Eleazar was standing on the porch with his hands shoved into the front pocket of his pants. Jasper snorted causing me to look over at him. He, however, walked right up to Eleazar, folded his arms in front of his chest and just stared at him.

"What the fuck is going on?" I asked, looking between them.

"Just waiting to see why I can feel regret flowing off of him," smirked Jasper. "I mean, I didn't think the man knew what regret was."

"Jasper," I scolded, placing my hand on his arm. "Play nice."

Jasper rolled his butterscotch eyes but didn't say anything else. Eleazar turned to him and opened his mouth to speak but didn't say anything. I kind of wanted to beat them both for not just saying it. How hard is it to admit that you were wrong?

"Eleazar, is there something you want to say to Jasper?" I asked, prompting him.

"Iamsorry," he muttered, quickly.

"I didn't quite catch that," smirked Jasper.

"I am sorry for how I treated you in Africa and when we got here," said Eleazar. "I was wrong and I wish I could take it all back but I can't. You didn't deserve to be treated like that."

"Thank you, Eleazar," said Jasper, holding out his hand. A small smile spread on Eleazar's face as he placed his hand into my friends. "I appreciate you saying that. I know that I didn't make it easy for you, either, and for that I am sorry. Bella is my best friend and I am a little over protective of her."

"A little?" I snorted.

"Ok, a lot," laughed Jasper, releasing Eleazar's hand.

"Aren't we all, Jasper," chuckled Eleazar.

It had been a big moment for both of them and, while they may never be close, they could be friendly at least. It was a start. Carmen also took the time to apologize to both me and Jasper, but we assured her that she had done nothing and she hadn't. Sometime over the last handful of weeks, Jasper and I had gained them both as friends. Maybe one day, they would be like family to us as well.

Siobhan, Liam, and Maggie asked us to come see them sometime in Ireland. When I told her we would try, Maggie shook her head and said, "I can't tell if she is lying or not." Edward laughed as he wrapped his arms around me and told her he would do everything he could to make sure that we went over to see them. "Now, I know you are telling the truth," laughed Maggie. The three of them wished us a happy marriage and left together. I was sure that Edward and I, as well as the rest of our family would make sure that we visited them when we had the chance.

Neither Amun nor Kebi spoke to me or Jasper before they left. They seemed to blame us for putting their lives, and the lives of Benjamin and Tia, on the line. Honestly, I didn't care if they liked me or not. They bid their farewells to Carlisle, Edward, Esme, Emmett, Rose, and Alice, turned and walked out of the door, letting it hi them on the ass on the way out. Benjamin and Tia, however, hugged me.

"Now, Bella, the next time you find yourself facing the end of the world, you make sure give us a call," smirked Benjamin. "We want in on the fight, even if all we really did was stand around and watch you kick some major ass."

"Let's just hope I don't find myself in that position for awhile," I scoffed. "Thanks for helping."

"Anytime," he said, winking at me. Tia slid her arms around me, pulling me to her.

"Take care, Bella," she murmured. "We hope you find nothing but joy and happiness."

"Thank you, Tia," I whispered, hugging her back. "For everything."

"Anytime," she murmured.

Benjamin slipped his arm around Tia and lead her past everyone else and out to where Amun and Kebi were waiting for them. Edward wrapped his arms around me and we watched as our new friends climb into their cab and drove away. I turned in Edward's arms and kissed him, thankful that I still had him with me.

Peter and Charlotte were the last to leave. They both promised to stay in touch but I knew it would be another dozen years before we saw them again. Neither of them stayed in one place for very long and were ready to set out on their next adventure. However, I also knew that if and when we needed them they would be there, ready to help us, ready to fight till the end next to us. They were true friends.

"Edward," said Peter, shaking his head. "I know you are a mind reader and all but let me say it anyway, hurt Bella and I won't rest until I rip you to shreds and burn every piece of you."

"Duly noted," said Edward, gripping his hand tightly. I rolled my eyes but it was mostly for show.

"Peter was nicer than I am," smirked Charlotte, gripping Edward's hand. "I'll rip your dick off and make you want me burn it."

"Char," I muttered, shaking my head.

"I believed you the first ten times that you threatened me, Charlotte," smiled Edward. "I don't doubt for a moment that you mean every word that you are saying and thinking."

I was shaken out of my thoughts as Carlisle turned left. I looked outside. A surge of déjà vu hit me. I placed my hand on the window and took a deep breath as I said, "Stop."

"What is it?" asked Carlisle, stopping the car on the side of the road.

I didn't say anything as I climbed out of the car. He, Edward, and Esme climbed out as Jasper, Alice, Emmett, and Rose pulled up behind us. I squatted down and ran my hands through the dirt road that lead us down to where our old house once stood. Closing my eyes, I let my mind wonder back to that fateful moment when everything in my life changed.

"This is where I was standing," I murmured, softly.

"What are you talking about?" asked Emmett.

"Right here? Are you sure?" asked Carlisle, placing his hand on my shoulder. I opened my eyes and looked at him. I could almost see him as the blue-eyed man that he used to be.

"Yes," I said, standing up. I pointed to the trees behind me. "He came from there. I was almost home when he came upon me."

"Are you talking about your change?" asked Emmett. I simply nodded my head as I wrapped my arms around my chest.

"It was cold," I said, looking around. "And windy. All I wanted was to get home to father and Carlisle, even though I knew that father was going to start on me about choosing husband. My toes were cold and my fingers were starting to feel numb so I had them tucked inside the sleeves of my dress. Used to frustrate mother when I did that. She said it wasn't lady like."

I turned and started walking down the road toward where our house used to sit. It wasn't even as much of as house as it was a tiny, stone cottage. It was barely big enough for the four of us. Carlisle and I shared the upstairs loft until I turned ten. Then Father built a wall in the middle of the room, giving us each our own separate space. Mother used to tell him that I was growing into a woman and that I needed my privacy. Father would grumble under his breath about me still being his little girl.

As I walked down the road, Edward slipped his arm around my waist, pulling me into his side. The sky was dark enough that we wouldn't sparkle in the dimming light and the wind blew just enough to blow my hair behind me. Carlisle fell into step with me and Edward. I didn't need to look over to see that Esme was at his side, where she always was. I could hear Jasper, Alice, Rose, and Emmett following us.

Carlisle and stopped and looked at the empty field that laid out before us. We were only a few miles outside of the small town that was once our home. The field was filled with luscious green grass and tall trees that had been there well before I had been changed. Carlisle reached down and slipped his hand into mine. I looked up at him, expecting to see sadness etched on his face but instead I saw happiness. He was smiling a huge smile and I couldn't have stopped my smile if I had wanted to. He stepped forward, pulling on my hand.

My smile grew even bigger as I slipped out of Edward's arms and ran into the field with my brother. Carlisle let go of my hand and looked back at me as he ran through the tall grass. My hair was flying behind me and for the first time in over three hundred years, I felt like the young carefree girl that I was once was.

Carlisle and I dropped into the ground, laying flat on our backs. He looked over at me and smiled even bigger. He looked years younger than his frozen form of twenty three years. He was the boyish man that I remember chasing me as a girl. He was the man that I had spent the last three hundred years missing.

"It almost looks like it did," I commented. Carlisle reached over and grabbed my hand.

"All we need now is a little cottage sitting on the edge and it would be perfect, don't you think?" he asked.

"Yes," I murmured, pulling my hand out of his as I stood up.

I moved over and knelt down in front of the small stone grave marker. I ran my hands over the etching that was carved into the stone.

"Charles Andrew Cullen," I murmured. "I'm sorry, father. I wish I could have been there in the end. I've missed you so much. Not a day goes by that I don't think of you and mother. I hope that you are proud of who I am. I've found my love, Father. I know you didn't always understood why it was important for to me that I fall in love with the man I was going to marry but I spent so many years watching how much you loved Mother. How could I not want the same thing? You might have even liked him. His name is Edward, Father, and he makes me feel so beautiful. I wish you could have met him. He would have driven you crazy but I'm sure he would have won you over with his charm," I laughed, letting my fingers trace the outline of his name. "Father, I love you. Please, tell Mother that I said I loved her, too."

"Father," said Carlisle, slipping his arm around my waist as he knelt down to me. "You asked me once to find Isabella. I'm afraid I failed in my quest. She found me first," he said, quietly. "I thought you were a foolish man for letting your anger push her away but I know now that you were afraid that she would be alone with nobody to take care of her. I promise you that is not the case, Father. I will never let her go again. We have a family; brothers and sisters. AS Isabella has, I've found someone that I am so in love with. Her name is Esme and, well, you would have hated her. She's a strong woman, who loves her family with a fiery passion. She's incredible and I'm lucky to have her. Take care of Mother, Father, and love each other as much as you can. Goodbye, Father."

"Goodbye, Father," I murmured, kissing my fingers and laying them over his name. "Rest now."

Carlisle and I stood up and looked back to where our family was standing. They hadn't moved from the edge of the field where we had left them. Emmett was standing behind Rose, arms wrapped snuggly around her and a cheesy smile on his face. Alice was turned into Jasper's embrace, hand resting softly on his chest. Jasper was running his fingers up and down her arm. He was resting his head on the top of hers, smiling lazily as he watched my brother and I. He nodded his head at me as if to tell me that he knew that even though I had Carlisle now, he would always be my brother.

Edward and Esme were standing next to each other. He has his arm slung around her shoulder like he was trying to keep her from crying. Maybe he was. She had huge smile on her face that even I could see from across the field and, in that moment, I was never happier that my brother had found her to love. She was the kind of woman that he needed; strong, beautiful, and smart. Someone who wouldn't let him get away with anything and someone who would make sure that he knew just how much he was loved. She was a truly remarkable woman.

"Carlisle, do you ever wonder what would have happened if we hadn't been changed?" I asked, looking up at my brother.

"Yes," he admitted. "Even though I didn't anticipate spending the rest of my life walking on this earth as a vampire, Bella, I can't really find it inside of myself to hate it."

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because I wouldn't have Esme," he smiled. "I wouldn't have Edward or Alice, Rose or, even Emmett."

"I heard that," yelled Emmett. I laughed quietly when I heard Rose smack him on the back of the head.

"And I wouldn't have you anymore," said Carlisle, quietly. "I get to spend eternity with my family, Bella. What more can a man ask for?"

"Carlisle, call me Isabella," I murmured.

"Ok, Isabella," he smiled. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, I think I am ready," I said, smiling. I looked back at my father's grave. "I'm finally ready."

**Thank you for all the reviews. One more chapter to go and I hope to have it ready tomorrow. **


	23. Chapter 23

I stood in front of the floor length mirror inside Alice's bedroom, staring at the person looking back at me. She was wearing a simple, knee length ivory dress that was barely held together by two thin spaghetti straps that rested on her shoulders. The dress hugged her body, showing her curves and caressing her body. It was just shade darker than her skin. Her long dark, mahogany hair had been curled and half of it had been pulled back, showing the bare contours of her neck. Her eyes were dark and smoky looking and her cheeks were rosy, like her blush might have been if she had still been human. Her lips had been painted a soft pink and were shimmering under the lights.

"I don't know this person," I breathed, looking at Alice through the mirror.

"It's just you," she said, smiling. "The way we all see you."

"Alice," I murmured, shaking my head.

"One night Jasper and I were out hunting," she started, placing her hands on my bare shoulders. "I asked him why you two never got together. I'll admit to being jealous of you, Bella. He laughed and shook his head. He said, 'Darlin, Bella is my sister. I can't be away from her but I love you.' All I've ever known is being a vampire, Bella. Before my change, I was in the dark. Lost in the dark. For a long time, I thought I was never going to find my way. I found my way standing in that forest, looking at you and Jasper. I love him so much, Bella."

"I know you do," I murmured. "He's my best friend, Alice. All I want is for him to be happy."

"I feel the same way about Edward," she smiled. "He's my best friend. He's been alone for a very long time, Bella. He took on the role of our protector but he was lonely. He changed the moment he saw you sitting on the couch. I didn't need to see it, I felt it. He loves you and all I want is for you to be happy together."

"Alice," I whispered, closing my eyes. I reached up and placed my hand on hers. "Thank you for all of this."

"You're welcome," she murmured. "Just love him, Bella. That's all I ask."

"I do," I said, opening my eyes. "I always will."

Alice smiled once again as she led me out of her bedroom. She led me down the stairs to the living room. Jasper was standing next to the front door. He was wearing a dark suit that I was sure Alice had bought for him. His shaggy blond hair had been combed back. He turned and looked at us and smiled.

"Wow," he said softly. "You look…beautiful, Bella."

Alice let go of my hand and danced her way over to him. "Don't be late." She smiled before leaning up and kissing him.

"We won't be," he murmured, bringing his hand up to her cheek. Alice looked back at me and smiled before she walked out of the house, leaving just me and Jasper. He turned and held out his hand to me. "Shall we, Darlin?"

"Yes," I said, breathlessly.

I placed my hand in his and let him led me outside and into the trees. Jasper held onto my hand as we walked through the woods. We weren't in a hurry and we both knew better than to run. Alice would rip us to pieces for messing up my hair. Besides, we had plenty of time. It's not like they could start without us.

"What are you thinking about, Darlin?" he asked. I smiled as I looked over at him.

"How much everything's changed in the last few months," I said. "Who knew that we would have ended up spending months here, instead of a few days?"

"Not me," he laughed, slipping his arm around my waist. "Do you still feel the pull to move on?"

"Sometimes," I admitted. "But I can't leave him and I can't ask him to go with me."

"Why not?" asked Jasper. "He would."

"I know he would," I sighed. "But he would miss everyone and so would I. Do you ever feel like leaving?"

"No," said Jasper, quickly. "I can't…She's my life, Bella. She makes me feel…"

"Like you are everything," I murmured.

"Exactly," whispered Jasper, pulling me to a stop. I turned and looked up at him. "Bella, you gave me a chance when you didn't have to. Most people in your position would have destroyed me, Peter, and Charlotte along with everyone else but not you."

"Oh, Jas," I sighed, shaking my head.

"No, they would have," he insisted. "Maybe when I first started traveling with you it was because I felt like I owed you something but I don't feel like that now. I haven't for a long time. I've stayed with you because you're my best friend and my sister. I love you, Bella."

"I love you, too, Jas," I murmured, bringing my hand up to his cheek. "You're a good man, Jasper." I ran my finger over the gold band that was resting on his finger. "You're a good husband. I've been the lucky one to get to spend the last century with you by my side."

"I'll be there as long as you want me to be," he promised. "Now, we had better get going before that wife of mine rips my head off."

"She would to," I laughed.

Jasper and I turned and started back on our journey. We walked for a few more minutes when we found Carlisle waiting for us. Jasper didn't say anything as he leaned down and kissed my cheek. He nodded to Carlisle and hurried to take his place on the other side of the trees. Carlisle smiled and shook his head as he took in my appearance.

"I always knew you would be a beautiful bride," he murmured, running his hands through his hair.

"Thanks, I guess," I smiled, taking his arm into my hand. "Are you ready for this?"

"No," he answered, honestly as he placed his hand on top of mine. "If it was anyone other than Edward…"

"Yeah, I know," I giggled. "But it is Edward."

"You really love him?" asked Carlisle, cocking an eyebrow at me.

"I really love him," I said. Carlisle sighed and looked at the ground. "Brother, you know he can't take your place, right?"

"I know," he grumbled. "I'm happy for you and Edward, Isabella."

"But?" I asked.

"But nothing," he smiled. "I'm happy for you both."

"Good," I said, returning his smile. "Now, are you ready?"

"No," he said, again. "I'll never be ready to give you away but I will because Father can't."

"That's good enough for me."

Carlisle pulled my arm through his and led me through the trees and into mine and Edward's meadow. Edward was waiting for me in the middle. He was wearing a dark suit. His face sparkled as he looked back at me. I couldn't decide if it was the sun that had shifted from behind the clouds or the love he felt for me that made his face light up. Either way he was beautiful.

I looked up at Carlisle and smiled as we made our way through the wildflowers to where Edward was waiting with everyone. Jasper had settled himself next to Alice, who was beaming with joy and love and happiness. Rose was standing next to Esme, who had her hand pressed to her lips. It was like she was trying to stop the sob from escaping. Maybe she was. Emmett was standing behind Edward. He had the biggest smile on his face.

Carlisle unwrapped my arm from his and placed my hand in Edward's, placing a gentle kiss on my cheek. I turned and face my lover, my mate. Edward brought our joined hands up to his lips and if I had been human, my face would be saturated with my tears. Tears of love and happiness, of course. Emmett cleared his throat and we all laughed as Edward and I turned and faced him.

"I never thought I would see the day that Edward found someone nearly as stubborn as he is," teased Emmett. I rolled my eyes at the buffoon while Edward punched him in the arm. Emmett smiled as he turned serious. "Today we stand here to witness, together as a family, the union between Edward and Isabella. The past few months have taught us all to value the power of love. Who gives this woman to be married?"

"I do," smiled Carlisle. I looked back at him. He had his arms around Esme, who was crying tearlessly.

"Isabella, repeat after me," said Emmett. "I, Isabella…"

"…take you, Edward, to be my lawfully wedded husband…"

"…take you, Isabella, to be my lawfully wedded wife…"

"…in good times and in bad…"

"…for better or for worse…"

"…for all of eternity."

Emmett handed Edward my ring while Rose slipped his into my hand. Edward slid the sterling silver band onto my left hand before raising it up and placing a soft kiss on top. I heard Esme and Alice whisper a hushed aw but I couldn't tear my eyes off of Edward's. His deep, butterscotch eyes were burning into mine.

"Isabella," murmured Emmett. I tore my eyes away and looked up at him. "It's your turn."

If I had been human, my cheeks would be on fire from the blush that had crept up them. I turned back to Edward and slowly slid the matching silver band on his left hand. A smile crept up on my face as I looked up at him. He was mine and I was his and nothing was ever going to change that. Edward wove our fingers together, pulling me an inch closer to him. Emmett cleared his throat once again and we looked up at him.

"It's an honor to pronounce you husband and wife," he said, smiling. He looked from me to Edward. "Dude, what are you waiting for? Kiss her already."

Everyone else laughed as Edward brought his hands up to my face and slowly leaned into me. Just before his lips touched down onto mine, he whispered, "I love you, Isabella."

I couldn't respond to him as his mouth landed on mine in the next instant. Instead, I told him that I loved him with the way I moves my lips with his. The way I held onto his hands with my hands. I told him that I loved him with each gentle caress of my tongue onto his. With each moment that I held him close to me. Edward slowly pulled away but kept his forehead pressed down onto mine.

"I love you, Edward," I whispered, closing my eyes. "I always will."

)&(

Do you remember the moment that changed your life? I used to think it was the moment I felt the razor sharp teeth of the vampire that changed me. However, now I realize that while that moment did change me, it was not the moment that changed my life. The moment that did, was the moment Jasper and I went hunting in the woods that surrounded the small town of Forks, Washington. The moment when we found ourselves face to face with a group of vampires who would led me to the brother I had thought was long dead and gone. The brother who led me to the man I was meant to spend my eternity with. All it took was a moment.

**That's it, Folks. Thank you so much for all the great reviews over my first vampire story. It won't be my last. I have a new idea for one but I won't be putting it up for while. Let me know what you thought about this one.**


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